If one pronounces a bid'ah divorce, is this count of divorce considered valid or is it void, with discussion and evidence.
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The Shaykh : Now, if we say that one who pronounces a bid'ah divorce must take his wife back, is this count of divorce counted against him or is it void?
The majority of the scholars, including the four Imams, hold that it is a count of divorce that is counted against the husband and has taken place; it has taken place along with the sin. This is because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to 'Umar: And there is no taking back except after the divorce has taken place. The ruling of a matter is known by a text regarding it, or by a text regarding what is necessarily entailed by it or required by it. Accordingly, the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), "Tell him to take her back," is evidence that the divorce has taken place and that it is counted among her divorces. This was stated explicitly in al-Bukhari: "It was counted among her divorces." Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) held that a bid'ah divorce does not take place. He said that its taking place would be establishing the bid'ah and validating the forbidden. This is contrary to what the principles of the Shari'ah require, and indeed contrary to what the texts of the Shari'ah require. This is because it is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the hadith of 'A'ishah that he said: Sahih Muslim 1718b And the meaning of "returning" is rejecting what was rejected. This hadith is general, and no individual case from the scope of its generality can be excluded except by a correct, explicit evidence. He said, and because if we were to validate what is forbidden, that would be approval of the forbidden and establishing the forbidden, and this does not stand on the principles of the Shari'ah. But we say to Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah: Answer his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): For taking her back is a branch of the divorce having taken place. And if it is a branch of the divorce having taken place, that indicates that the bid'ah divorce has taken place. But he (may Allah have mercy on him) answers and says: "The taking back in the Book and the Sunnah is not the taking back in the speech of the jurists". The speech of the jurists regarding taking back is that it is returning a divorced woman to the bond of marriage. But the taking back in the Book and the Sunnah is broader than that; it means returning in an absolute sense. He (may Allah have mercy on him) cited as evidence His saying, the Exalted: [Al-Baqarah 2:229] up to His saying "If he divorces her," meaning the third time. [Al-Baqarah 2:230] "If he who divorced her divorces her," the second husband. [Al-Baqarah 2:230] The doer in "that they may return to each other" refers to the first husband and the woman. It is known that the taking back here is not the technical taking back, which is returning the divorced woman to the bond of marriage, but rather a renewal such that one bond remains between them, which is the taking back.
The majority of the scholars, including the four Imams, hold that it is a count of divorce that is counted against the husband and has taken place; it has taken place along with the sin. This is because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to 'Umar:
