The Ruling on a Forged Divorce Deed: Does Such a Divorce Take Effect?
Source: Fatāwā Rāshidiyyah, p. 459
❀ Question
The scholars of Islam were asked:
Jāvid Akhtar bin Dīn Muḥammad, resident of Larkana city, was married to Nāhīd Akhtar bint Dr. Shabīr Aḥmad Pathān. A daughter was born from this marriage. Their marriage has lasted three years and one month.
Recently, Jāvid Akhtar spoke casually with a petition-writer regarding his health. That writer, on his own, drafted a divorce deed, added names of witnesses and forged signatures, and delivered this supposed divorce deed to Nāhīd Akhtar.
In reality, the couple has a one-and-a-half-year-old daughter who visits her father’s home with her mother, which clearly shows that husband and wife are living amicably. The only issue troubling them is fear of social suspicion caused by this false document.
The question is:
Does such a forged divorce deed carry any Sharʿi weight, when the husband neither knew about it nor authorized it? Please clarify the Sharʿi ruling.
❀ Answer
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu was-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ammā baʿd!
It should be understood that if the husband himself asserts that he neither wrote nor dictated any divorce, nor instructed anyone to write it, then in such a case, no divorce has taken place.
◄ If an unrelated person drafted a divorce deed on his own, it carries no Sharʿi status.
◄ Moreover, there were no genuine witnesses, and the names added were false and baseless.
◄ The husband neither read, nor wrote, nor authorized that document.
Therefore, from the perspective of Sharīʿah, this divorce is invalid. Divorce has clear principles and conditions in Islam, and the presence of proper witnesses is essential. None of these conditions were fulfilled here.
❀ Summary Points
➊ The petition-writer inserted fake names and forged signatures, which makes it clear that no real witnesses existed.
➋ The husband neither wrote, dictated, nor knew about this document.
◈ Hence, the Sharʿi ruling is that such a divorce is not valid.
ھذا ما عندی واللہ اعلم بالصواب
