Do we follow the practice of the Commander of the Faithful, 'Umar, regarding the pronouncement of three divorces as three separate instances?
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The questioner : The practice of the Commander of the Faithful, 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), is it not to be followed so that I am held to the three divorces?
The Shaykh : It is to be followed, but only as long as the Sunnah has not been contradicted by a contrary report. If a report comes in that contradicts it, then the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is more deserving of being followed.
The questioner : During the lifetime of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), the matter was proceeding as it was, but when the disagreement occurred, 'Umar's Sunnah came after, and the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) had commanded us.
The Shaykh : Our position is to say that if this becomes widespread among the people, we should adopt 'Umar's view. But if the matter is rare among the people, we should follow what the people were doing before the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). This is a good distinction, meaning it follows the principles. For example, if people continue to do this thing and it becomes such that everyone who divorces says, "I divorce you three times," or "I divorce you three times," or similar phrases, then they should be held to that. But who is the one who enforces this?
Is it the mufti or the judge? There is no doubt that the status of 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was that of a judge, not that of a mufti. Accordingly, the mufti either issues a ruling based on what the people were originally doing, or he remains silent. But it is the judge who has the authority to prevent the resumption of the marriage. Then there is a difference between the case where he has already resumed the marriage and the case where he has not. If he has not resumed it, the matter is simple; we say, "Do not resume it, it is prohibited." But if he has already resumed it, the majority says that this resumption is invalid and the wife is not his, while the second opinion says it is valid and the wife is his. The stronger position is this: if he has resumed it, there is no benefit in stopping it; we must let it proceed.
The Shaykh : It is to be followed, but only as long as the Sunnah has not been contradicted by a contrary report. If a report comes in that contradicts it, then the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is more deserving of being followed.
The questioner : During the lifetime of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), the matter was proceeding as it was, but when the disagreement occurred, 'Umar's Sunnah came after, and the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) had commanded us.
The Shaykh : Our position is to say that if this becomes widespread among the people, we should adopt 'Umar's view. But if the matter is rare among the people, we should follow what the people were doing before the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). This is a good distinction, meaning it follows the principles. For example, if people continue to do this thing and it becomes such that everyone who divorces says, "I divorce you three times," or "I divorce you three times," or similar phrases, then they should be held to that. But who is the one who enforces this?
Is it the mufti or the judge? There is no doubt that the status of 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was that of a judge, not that of a mufti. Accordingly, the mufti either issues a ruling based on what the people were originally doing, or he remains silent. But it is the judge who has the authority to prevent the resumption of the marriage. Then there is a difference between the case where he has already resumed the marriage and the case where he has not. If he has not resumed it, the matter is simple; we say, "Do not resume it, it is prohibited." But if he has already resumed it, the majority says that this resumption is invalid and the wife is not his, while the second opinion says it is valid and the wife is his. The stronger position is this: if he has resumed it, there is no benefit in stopping it; we must let it proceed.
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، 2106 - 4600 هل نقدم سنة أمير المؤمنين عمر في وقوع الطلاق الثلاث ثلاث طلقات؟ ابن عثيمين — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.