I work in the Yemen Arab Republic, and I live with two of my colleagues in a three-room residence.
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Question: I work in the Yemen Arab Republic, and I live with two of my colleagues in a three-room residence. Once, a dispute arose with one of the colleagues over a certain matter, and I became angry with him and said: “I divorce you three times if I sit with you in this room.” I was angry at the time, so I do not know if I said “three times” or not. However, some of the colleagues present,They said: said that I did not say “three times.” I regretted it greatly afterward. Indeed, I moved my bed and did not sit in that room; rather, I moved to another room in the same residence. However, I am sometimes compelled to enter that room out of necessity. Does this divorce take effect on me, given that I contracted the marriage with a girl only and did not consummate it?
Answer: First: A person should not keep divorce close to his tongue, uttering it on every occasion, because divorce is a heavy word, and it entails dangers and harms. It is obligatory for the Muslim to keep divorce away from his tongue and not take it as a weapon, uttering it on every occasion.
As for what came from you, O questioner, namely that you quarreled with your colleague, or with your colleagues, and you uttered divorce that you would not enter the room where this one with whom you disputed
is,This requires detailed explanation: if you intended to prevent yourself from entering, and did not intend to divorce your wife, then this is treated as an oath. You must expiate the oath by feeding ten poor people, giving each poor person a mudd or half a sa' of food, or by clothing them, giving each poor person a garment that suffices him for his prayer. By doing so, your oath is dissolved, and you may enter the room and live with your colleague.
However, if you intended divorce, and did not intend an oath, and you made it conditional on your entering the room, then if the entry occurs, the divorce takes effect. Since you did not consummate the marriage with this wife, it is a final divorce, and you have no right to take her back. If the divorce was less than three, you may contract a new marriage with her, with her consent and the consent of her guardian.
However, if the divorce was three, then it is a major final divorce, and she is not lawful for you again until she marries another husband.
Answer: First: A person should not keep divorce close to his tongue, uttering it on every occasion, because divorce is a heavy word, and it entails dangers and harms. It is obligatory for the Muslim to keep divorce away from his tongue and not take it as a weapon, uttering it on every occasion.
As for what came from you, O questioner, namely that you quarreled with your colleague, or with your colleagues, and you uttered divorce that you would not enter the room where this one with whom you disputed
is,This requires detailed explanation: if you intended to prevent yourself from entering, and did not intend to divorce your wife, then this is treated as an oath. You must expiate the oath by feeding ten poor people, giving each poor person a mudd or half a sa' of food, or by clothing them, giving each poor person a garment that suffices him for his prayer. By doing so, your oath is dissolved, and you may enter the room and live with your colleague.
However, if you intended divorce, and did not intend an oath, and you made it conditional on your entering the room, then if the entry occurs, the divorce takes effect. Since you did not consummate the marriage with this wife, it is a final divorce, and you have no right to take her back. If the divorce was less than three, you may contract a new marriage with her, with her consent and the consent of her guardian.
However, if the divorce was three, then it is a major final divorce, and she is not lawful for you again until she marries another husband.