Cases of Conditional Divorce Where Divorce Does Not Occur

Excerpt from "500 Questions and Answers for Women," translated by Hafiz Abdullah Saleem

Scenario:​

A man received letters accusing his wife of immoral behavior. Believing the content to be true, he divorced his wife based on these accusations. Later, he discovered that the letters were false and fabricated. He now asks whether the divorce he pronounced under these circumstances is valid.

Ruling:​

If the situation is as described—where the husband divorced his wife based on the false accusations in the letters, which he initially believed to be true but later learned were baseless—then the divorce does not take effect.

This is because the divorce in this case was conditional (mualaq) and based on a situation or condition (the accusations being true) that did not actually occur. Since the condition was unfulfilled, the divorce is considered invalid.

Key Points:​

1. Conditional Divorce (Mualaq):
   
   • A divorce that depends on the occurrence of a specific condition. If the condition does not materialize, the divorce does not take effect.
2. Unfulfilled Condition:
   
   • In this case, the condition for the divorce was the truthfulness of the accusations. Since the accusations were proven false, the condition remains unmet, and the divorce is nullified.

Reference: Saudi Fatwa Committee