What is the ruling on the divorce of the angry man who did not reach the point of being overwhelmed?

The questioner : Regarding the issue of the divorcer. Regarding the divorcer, meaning if he divorced his wife with a divorce where he was in full consciousness, but he was, meaning, in anger, meaning, not, meaning, he did not reach the point of being overwhelmed, but what is intended here is, meaning, in this disciplinary divorce, meaning, does the divorce take effect in this case or not?

The Shaykh : It appears from your question that there are two things regarding the divorce of this divorcer. The first thing, in your expression, is that the divorce did not reach the point of being overwhelmed, and the second thing is that he was not intending the divorce, but rather he was intending to threaten the woman with divorce.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Here there are two things. The first thing is what do you understand by being overwhelmed, so that we can distinguish between the negative and the positive in your speech? What is the divorce of being overwhelmed in your understanding?

The questioner : In my understanding, it is going beyond the usual limit in the matter of anger, meaning that he does not feel when he speaks, he does not feel his speech or he does not understand the meaning of what he is saying, meaning, this is according to his concept.

The Shaykh : Meaning, it means that this person has become insane, meaning he does not realize what he is saying? Do you want that?

The questioner : Yes, Shaykh.

The Shaykh : That is not the case. Being overwhelmed is anger, the anger that, if it does not control the angry person, prevents him from sound thinking. So being overwhelmed here does not mean anything more than anger. As he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the authentic hadith: , because anger changes the nature of the human being and prevents him from sound thinking. Then this anger contradicts the resolve mentioned in the noble verse, for .
So every divorcer who wants to pronounce a lawful divorce must have the resolve for divorce in himself and in his heart, and the divorce does not issue from him as a momentary outburst, but rather as is said today, with prior contemplation and design. So whoever resolves and gathers his thought to divorce his wife, that is the divorce. But if he is provoked and becomes angry and then divorces, that is the divorce of the angry man that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) referred to in the well-known hadith in the Sunan: . Yes. This is the first point. Yes. Second, we should know regarding this divorcer whom you say was angry. Yes. But his anger did not reach the point of being overwhelmed. Yes. You say with that he was intending to terrorize and threaten her.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : So what was his wording?

The questioner : You are divorced.

The Shaykh : Did he declare it? Did he say to her "You are divorced" like that, not meaning to imply the divorce or something similar?

The questioner : No, he did not say, meaning. He said no.

The Shaykh : Divorced.

The questioner : You are divorced.

The Shaykh : Look here now. Divorce, according to the scholars, is of two types: explicit divorce and implicit divorce.

The questioner : Peace be upon you, yes.

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. So explicit divorce does not benefit from intention, and intention does not avail in it. If he divorces with an explicit divorce, it is not accepted from him that he was intending to threaten and terrorize her. Yes. Unlike implicit divorce. Here, his interpretation is accepted. For example, he says to her, "Go away, I do not want you."

The questioner : Like, "Go back to your family" approximately.

The Shaykh : "Go to your family" and the like. This is not an explicit divorce. Here, he is judged by his intention and his intention is accepted. So if he says, "I did not intend to divorce her," it is accepted from him. But if he says to her, "You are divorced," it is not accepted from him.

The questioner : And anger does not suffice for us, meaning it prevents us.

The Shaykh : We are now at the second point. The first point, I claimed that I had finished with it.

The questioner : Yes, yes, may Allah bless you.

The Shaykh : So now we are at the second point.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Divorce is of two types: explicit divorce and implicit divorce. In explicit divorce, the intention of the divorcer for something other than divorce is not accepted; his intention for something other than divorce is not accepted from him. Yes. But in implicit divorce, here his intention is accepted and his words are interpreted. Is this clear?

The questioner : Yes, may Allah bless you.

The Shaykh : It appears that we must return to the divorce of the angry man. The divorce of the angry man. No person can judge that Zayd the divorcer was angry or not; rather, he judges himself. So if he says, "I was angry," this is accepted from him. And there must be a witness who testifies that he was indeed angry. But we do not have a scale like a barometer or the like, where we measure the degree of anger in him, whether it reached a point that prevents him from sound thinking and from resolving to divorce, or whether it did not reach it? There is nothing of this kind at all. And so it is sufficient from him if he says, "I was angry." In that case, his divorce is not executed, due to the aforementioned hadith: "There is no divorce in being overwhelmed." But here is a final thing, which is:

The questioner : Okay.

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. We believe, contrary to the majority of scholars and following the correct Sunnah, that if a man resolves to divorce. I am not saying now "if he divorces," but I express it more precisely: I say if he resolves to divorce, he must have two just witnesses testify to it. If he does not do so, the divorce is suspended from execution until he testifies, meaning if he does not testify, there is no divorce. Is this clear? And with this, the answer to that question ends.