❖ Ruling on Adultery After Triple Divorce and Remarrying the First Husband
Source: Fatawa Ameenpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Ameenpuri
❖ Question:
If a woman is divorced three times and then commits adultery with someone, can she remarry her first husband?
❖ Answer:
After the third divorce, a woman is completely separated from her husband and becomes permanently unlawful (ḥarām) for him.
The man cannot take her back, nor can she remarry him under any circumstance unless the following occurs:
- She enters into a valid marriage (nikāḥ ṣaḥīḥ) with another man,
- The second marriage is consummated (i.e., they have sexual relations),
- The second husband then either divorces her or dies,
- She completes her ʿiddah (waiting period).
Only then is she permissible again for her former husband through a new marriage contract.
However, if she commits adultery (i.e., sexual relations without marriage), that does not make her lawful for her previous husband.
Zinā is not a substitute for a valid second marriage, nor does it fulfill the Sharʿī condition for ḥalālah (lawful return).
❖ Qur'anic Evidence:
﴿فَإِنْ طَلَّقَهَا فَلَا تَحِلُّ لَهُ مِنْ بَعْدُ حَتَّى تَنْكِحَ زَوْجًا غَيْرَهُ﴾
(Surah al-Baqarah: 230)
"If he divorces her (the third time), she is not lawful to him afterward until she marries another husband. Then, if he also divorces her, there is no blame upon them (her and her former husband) to reunite if they think they can uphold the limits of Allah..."
❖ Scholarly Consensus:
❀ Imam al-Ṭabarī رحمه الله (d. 310 AH) said:
"إن وطئها واطي بغير نكاح لم تحل للأول بإجماع الأمة جميعا."
"If someone has sexual relations with her without a valid marriage, she does not become lawful for her first husband — this is by unanimous consensus of the entire Ummah."
(Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī: 4/169)
❖ Practical Example from the Salaf:
❀ Sayyiduna Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه reported:
He heard Sayyiduna ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb رضي الله عنه say:
"If a man divorces his wife once or twice and does not reconcile before the ʿiddah ends, and she then marries another man who later dies or divorces her, then she may return to her first husband. In that case, they will continue as a married couple with the remaining number of divorces."
(Muwaṭṭa’ Imām Mālik: 2/586 – Chain is authentic)
✔ Summary:
① After three divorces, the woman becomes unlawful to her first husband.
② Only a valid, consummated marriage with another man can make her lawful again, followed by his divorce or death.
③ Adultery (zinā) is not a valid marriage and does not fulfill the Sharʿī condition for her to return to her first husband.
④ This is affirmed by clear Qur’anic evidence, unanimous consensus of scholars, and the practice of the early righteous generations.
