What is the ruling on a person saying, “I am divorced if I do such and such,” when he has only contracted the marriage but has not yet entered?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : We are four young men in a room. Do you see?
The Shaykh : Four young men, meaning brothers or strangers?
The questioner : Brothers.
The Shaykh : Brothers?
The questioner : Brothers.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : We have our younger brother, and we were putting him in an awkward position regarding his house... You get the idea... He wrote his marriage contract recently... And this matter; that it is not right... His nerves, I mean, we did not see him except that he got angry... I am divorced, of course, it is him, that I will not enter this house, so afterwards, of course, he regretted it, and we did not know what to do, so we saw our brothers...The Shaykh : Nasser; meaning, he gives you the evidence regarding these matters.
The Shaykh : Okay; meaning, I understand that you are not living in a house, meaning in a room, but rather you are living in a building.
The questioner : We are living in a house; meaning, there are distributed apartments, do you see? We are fixing it for him.
The Shaykh : Be patient, my brother, I have not understood the matter yet. I am asking you, are you living in one room or in a building?
The questioner : In a building, in a building.
The Shaykh : A building, you said in a room!
The questioner : We are sitting in a room, we are young men sitting in the guest room.
The Shaykh : Ah, meaning you were gathered together.
The questioner : Yes, gathered in the guest room.
The Shaykh : Before the gathering, were you all married?
The questioner : Yes, we are all married.
The Shaykh : The four of you?
The questioner : The four of us.
The Shaykh : And you live in one building?
The questioner : In one building.
The Shaykh : So you were gathered in a place or in a room.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Okay; so did you put him in an awkward position?
The questioner : We put him in an awkward position, he was fixing the building because... to install for her, meaning to marry in it, to install bathrooms for her... young men.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Like we say, the building is damp from here, and the building is small...
The Shaykh : The important thing is that he got annoyed with you.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And what did he do?
The questioner : He got very annoyed and said: I am divorced if I live in it.
The Shaykh : Ah, is he married or not yet?
The questioner : He has only written the contract; meaning, he wrote the contract and is not married yet...
The Shaykh : Meaning, he contracted the marriage, but has not entered.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Okay; what was the exact phrase he used?
The questioner : What he said word for word: I am divorced, three times, if I live in it or enter it.
The Shaykh : Or enter it, and then did he enter it?
The questioner : He has not entered it yet.
The Shaykh : Does he want to enter it?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Does he want to enter it, does he want to go in?
The questioner : Ah, we want to marry him in it.
The Shaykh : Meaning, he has no choice but to enter it.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Because it is his brothers' house.
The questioner : The family house, he must enter it.
The Shaykh : Ah, yes, I understand now.
The answer - if Allah wills - is easy... His wife is his wife, and she is not divorced by this mere statement, but rather he owes an expiation for an oath, and the expiation for an oath is feeding ten poor people, not giving them dirhams or dinars, but feeding them; meaning, what do you eat at home, you bring these poor people, either all at once for ten, or five by five, or two by two, or one by one, according to what is feasible for you, the important thing is that you feed these ten, yes, and it is one count.
The questioner : One count?
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : From the ten.
The Shaykh : Yes, this is his expiation for the oath, and there is no divorce.
The questioner : There is no divorce.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : He swore three times.
The Shaykh : I know, even if it were thirty times.
The questioner : May Allah bless you, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : And may He reward you.
The questioner : May Allah honor you.
The Shaykh : You are welcome.
The questioner : ... if Allah wills, Lord of the worlds.
The Shaykh : Welcome, may Allah preserve you, and peace be upon you.
The questioner : ... O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Welcome.
The Shaykh : Four young men, meaning brothers or strangers?
The questioner : Brothers.
The Shaykh : Brothers?
The questioner : Brothers.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : We have our younger brother, and we were putting him in an awkward position regarding his house... You get the idea... He wrote his marriage contract recently... And this matter; that it is not right... His nerves, I mean, we did not see him except that he got angry... I am divorced, of course, it is him, that I will not enter this house, so afterwards, of course, he regretted it, and we did not know what to do, so we saw our brothers...The Shaykh : Nasser; meaning, he gives you the evidence regarding these matters.
The Shaykh : Okay; meaning, I understand that you are not living in a house, meaning in a room, but rather you are living in a building.
The questioner : We are living in a house; meaning, there are distributed apartments, do you see? We are fixing it for him.
The Shaykh : Be patient, my brother, I have not understood the matter yet. I am asking you, are you living in one room or in a building?
The questioner : In a building, in a building.
The Shaykh : A building, you said in a room!
The questioner : We are sitting in a room, we are young men sitting in the guest room.
The Shaykh : Ah, meaning you were gathered together.
The questioner : Yes, gathered in the guest room.
The Shaykh : Before the gathering, were you all married?
The questioner : Yes, we are all married.
The Shaykh : The four of you?
The questioner : The four of us.
The Shaykh : And you live in one building?
The questioner : In one building.
The Shaykh : So you were gathered in a place or in a room.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Okay; so did you put him in an awkward position?
The questioner : We put him in an awkward position, he was fixing the building because... to install for her, meaning to marry in it, to install bathrooms for her... young men.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Like we say, the building is damp from here, and the building is small...
The Shaykh : The important thing is that he got annoyed with you.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And what did he do?
The questioner : He got very annoyed and said: I am divorced if I live in it.
The Shaykh : Ah, is he married or not yet?
The questioner : He has only written the contract; meaning, he wrote the contract and is not married yet...
The Shaykh : Meaning, he contracted the marriage, but has not entered.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Okay; what was the exact phrase he used?
The questioner : What he said word for word: I am divorced, three times, if I live in it or enter it.
The Shaykh : Or enter it, and then did he enter it?
The questioner : He has not entered it yet.
The Shaykh : Does he want to enter it?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Does he want to enter it, does he want to go in?
The questioner : Ah, we want to marry him in it.
The Shaykh : Meaning, he has no choice but to enter it.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Because it is his brothers' house.
The questioner : The family house, he must enter it.
The Shaykh : Ah, yes, I understand now.
The answer - if Allah wills - is easy... His wife is his wife, and she is not divorced by this mere statement, but rather he owes an expiation for an oath, and the expiation for an oath is feeding ten poor people, not giving them dirhams or dinars, but feeding them; meaning, what do you eat at home, you bring these poor people, either all at once for ten, or five by five, or two by two, or one by one, according to what is feasible for you, the important thing is that you feed these ten, yes, and it is one count.
The questioner : One count?
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : From the ten.
The Shaykh : Yes, this is his expiation for the oath, and there is no divorce.
The questioner : There is no divorce.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : He swore three times.
The Shaykh : I know, even if it were thirty times.
The questioner : May Allah bless you, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : And may He reward you.
The questioner : May Allah honor you.
The Shaykh : You are welcome.
The questioner : ... if Allah wills, Lord of the worlds.
The Shaykh : Welcome, may Allah preserve you, and peace be upon you.
The questioner : ... O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Welcome.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.