Does the pronouncement of triple divorce in a single utterance count as one divorce or three?

The questioner : Regarding the pronouncement of triple divorce in one place and at one time, do you hold that it is valid, or do you hold that only one divorce takes place? The divorce is like the view of the majority of scholars.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : Do you hold that the three divorces take place, or only one?

The Shaykh : Regarding the pronouncement of triple divorce in a single session, the Sunnah is explicit that this divorce is considered one divorce. Some people in this era have turned to this reality, not because of their objective scientific research free from sectarian bias, but because they observed the many problems that arise between spouses simply because a husband divorced his wife by pronouncing triple divorce in a single session. They saw that these problems could be alleviated by adopting the old opinion practiced by Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (may Allah have mercy on them). It was incumbent upon them to argue for this not on the basis of the claimed public interest, but because the Sunnah was thus in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), in the time of Abu Bakr, and for a portion of the caliphate of 'Umar, the pronouncement of triple divorce was one divorce. Then 'Umar saw that he should enforce it as three upon them as a punishment for them, because they had opposed the Sunnah of divorce. For Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says: meaning: in every divorce, there is either retention in kindness or release with honor. Therefore, the one who combines the three divorces has forbidden himself this respite that Allah legislated for His servants in His saying: . And so 'Umar said, "If only we had enforced it upon them as three," and he did so (may Allah be pleased with him). This was an ijtihad (independent legal reasoning) on his part that was not to be criticized in his time. Rather, those who are to be criticized are the ones who forgot the Sunnah and clung to 'Umar's ijtihad, without realizing that his ijtihad was a temporal ijtihad appropriate to his time.
Returning to the Sunnah is obligatory in everything, no matter what the opinions are, and no matter if their holders are scholars and mujtahids (scholars qualified to derive rulings); for the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family).