What is the ruling on pronouncing three divorces in a single word?

The questioner : The questioner asks: What is the ruling on a man who divorces his wife three times in one word? Is it considered three divorces or one?

The Shaykh : First, it is not permissible for a man to divorce his wife three times in one word, or in multiple words in a single sitting. It is also not permissible to divorce her twice in one word, such as saying, "You are divorced twice," or in two words in a single sitting, such as saying, "You are divorced, you are divorced." This is because it is treating the verses of Allah with mockery. For this reason, the Commander of the Faithful, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), saw that this was a matter for which people deserved punishment when they were in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when people or the divorcing of people became frequent in his time with three divorces. He said (may Allah be pleased with him): I see (may Allah be pleased with him), and he made the three divorces count as three, whether in one word or in multiple words in a single sitting. Most of the scholars followed him in this. However, the correct view in this issue is that the three divorces count as one. This is because it is established in Sahih Muslim from the hadith of If we had enforced it upon them, he enforced it upon them. If one were to say that this was 'Umar's (may Allah be pleased with him) changing the Shari'ah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), it is actually a policy for the community and a discretionary punishment to deter them. If people know that if they divorce three times they will be prevented from taking their wives back, they will be cautious and will stop from the divorce of regret. 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) only intended to enforce it upon them so they would not take them back, so he prevented them from taking them back entirely in order to deter them from this matter in which they had become lax.