The Ruling on Divorce During Menstruation and Post-Natal Bleeding

Question:
The questioner says: I read in one of the fatwa books of the Jordanian Armed Forces that divorce does not take effect if the wife is not in a state of purity. I found that she was being defiant, so I divorced her as a threat to her, and I know that the divorce does not take effect on her based on this fatwa. What is your view regarding this?

Answer:
[She was in] menstruation, and he was angry with her, and he was ordered to hold her back until she becomes pure, then she menstruates, then she becomes pure, and then, if he wishes, he divorces her before touching her. And he said to him (peace and blessings be upon him): "That is the waiting period which Allah has commanded for women to be divorced." So if she is menstruating or in post-natal bleeding, he has no right to divorce her; he must be patient until she becomes pure, then he divorces her before touching her. If he divorces her during menstruation while he knows she is menstruating, or he knows she is in post-natal bleeding, and he has clear knowledge of this, it is not permissible. If he divorces her, it does not take effect according to the correct opinion. The majority of scholars said that it does take effect, and most of them say that it takes effect along with sin; he sins and the divorce takes effect on him. Some scholars held that it does not take effect along with sin; he sins but it does not take effect. This is the stronger opinion in terms of evidence. If he knows her state at the time of divorce, it is not permissible for him to divorce her during menstruation or post-natal bleeding; rather, he must be patient. If he resolves to divorce her and she becomes pure, he divorces her with a single divorce, not more than that. This is the Sunnah.