He divorced his wife, declared her forbidden, and returned her to her father. What is required of him after declaring her forbidden, and is the return valid?

The questioner : Hello.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : Peace be upon you and Allah's mercy.

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and Allah's mercy.

The questioner : How are you, Shaykh?

The Shaykh : Yes, and praise be to Allah.

The questioner : May Allah keep you safe. I have a simple problem, and I hope Allah gives us the solution through you, Honorable Shaykh.

The Shaykh : May Allah make it easy.

The questioner : First of all, I have been married to my cousin’s daughter for a long time, and a disagreement occurred between us. I was suffering from a swelling in my hand, a lump in the middle of the palm, perhaps from work or something like that. It caused me severe insomnia; I did not sleep for twenty-four hours, perhaps due to the pain. Yes. So we had a disagreement during these days, and I divorced her. She had stopped respecting me, whether at home or otherwise, and she could not care for me, meaning she would not look after me. So a disagreement happened, and I divorced her. At that very moment, my father came and took her back before she went to her family or left the house. He took her back and said to her, “Brother, this time we have taken her back in the manner of…” I replied to him and said, “Brother, I divorced her and declared her forbidden.”

The Shaykh : And how?

The questioner : I told him, “I divorced her and declared her forbidden.”

The Shaykh : Tell your father.

The questioner : Yes, I told my father the same thing.

The Shaykh : That I divorced her and declared her forbidden.

The questioner : Yes, I told him, “Brother, this woman is no use to me. I divorced her and declared her forbidden.” He did not reply to me; he said, “Brother, we have taken the woman back in the manner of… she has two children.” I was, of course, upset with the situation and the pain; she had increased it. I told her for the last time that I had divorced her and declared her forbidden. At that very moment, she had already packed her things and left. So I have a problem with this story. Is the woman forbidden, correct? Is the woman forbidden, correct? Or is she not forbidden? Or what is the story?

The Shaykh : So, did you accept your father’s advice and take her back? You took her back.

The questioner : Yes, I told him, “There is no disagreement, there is no disagreement, since originally you are the one who returned her, so I…”

The Shaykh : I agreed.

The questioner : I agreed with his words.

The Shaykh : The important thing is that I took her back to her house. As for the declaration of prohibition, I feed ten poor people on his behalf, one kilogram of rice for each poor person with meat. That is it.

The questioner : Yes, the second one.

The Shaykh : Let us return to the matter.

The questioner : It does not mean there is nothing in it.

The Shaykh : There is no expiation for an oath in it; there is an expiation for an oath.

The questioner : An expiation for an oath. Yes, well, there is a method before that.

The Shaykh : This counts as two divorces. This counts as two divorces, and if you divorce her a third time, she is forbidden to you.

The questioner : So, there is an expiation for an oath in this.

The Shaykh : Because you declared her forbidden, not because of the divorce. Yes, yes, indeed.

The questioner : Ten poor people? Yes, yes. May Allah reward you with good, O