A woman said to her husband while angry, “If you were a man, you would divorce me,” so he divorced her. What is the ruling, and what is the ruling on divorcing a menstruating woman?

Question:
The first message in this episode is from one of our brother listeners. The sender says: Ayn, Ayn, Mīm. Our brother says: I hope you will issue a ruling on my case. I am a married man, and one day a quarrel broke out between me and my wife. She was angry with me and said to me, “Divorce me.” I did not intend to divorce her, and I told her, “Seek refuge in Allah from Satan.” But she defied me and said, “If you are a man, divorce me.” I said to her, “You are divorced,” and I left. I returned to her at that very moment and took her back. After seven years had passed, a quarrel occurred between us, and I divorced her while she was menstruating. It was the fourth day of her menstruation, and I took her back on the fifth day of her menstruation. I did not pronounce the divorce in front of her, but I told my father that I had divorced my wife. Does the divorce take effect while she is menstruating? Does it count as one of her divorces? Because I read in the book *Fiqh al-Sunnah* by al-Sayyid Sabiq that divorcing a menstruating woman is a religious innovation (bid'ah) and that it does not take effect. Please guide us, may Allah preserve you.

Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and all his Companions. To proceed: It is obligatory for the husband to guard his tongue from pronouncing divorce, even if he is angry and any disagreement arises between him and his wife, as long as he desires his wife and wants the marriage to continue. This is especially the case if they have children and a family is built upon this relationship. It is obligatory for the husband to guard his tongue from divorce and to be patient with the difficult situations he may encounter from his wife, for there is good and a noble outcome in doing so, and in order to avoid falling into difficulty and numerous problems. As for the issue of him divorcing, then taking her back, then divorcing her while she is menstruating, and asking about the validity of divorce during menstruation, this is a matter to which one should refer to the muftis. He should refer to some of the scholars in his country and ask them, and follow their guidance. Yes.