A man divorced his wife three times, then another man married her and lived with her for seven months. Is she now permissible for her first husband?
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The questioner : This questioner, Muhammad al-Tayyib, is a Sudanese resident of Dammam. He says: A man divorced his wife three times, then another man married her and lived with her for seven months. Is she now permissible for her first husband? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : Yes, if the second husband married her for the purpose of marriage (nikah) and not for the purpose of dissolving the first marriage (tahlil), and he had intercourse with her, then he desired to part with her and divorced her, or he died, she becomes permissible for the first husband. She returns to the first husband with three divorces remaining, meaning he starts the count of divorces anew. This is based on the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He:[Al-Baqarah 2:229] up to His saying: [Al-Baqarah 2:230] meaning the second husband [Al-Baqarah 2:229] meaning for the first husband and the wife [Al-Baqarah 2:230] and she returns with three divorces remaining. This means that the second husband has nullified the previous divorces from the first husband, so the first husband has three divorces remaining after she returns to him, as if he had married her anew. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you...
The Shaykh : This is different from the case where her husband divorced her twice, then she married another husband, he had intercourse with her, then he divorced her or died, and then she returned to the first husband, meaning the first husband married her again. In that case, she returns to him with whatever remains of her divorces. That is, if he divorces her, she becomes forbidden to him until she marries another husband, because only one divorce remains for him.
The point of difference between the two is that the marriage in the second case, meaning the marriage of the second husband in the second case, had no effect. This is unlike the marriage of the second husband in the first case, which had an effect: it made her permissible for the first husband, thereby nullifying the previous divorces. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : Yes, if the second husband married her for the purpose of marriage (nikah) and not for the purpose of dissolving the first marriage (tahlil), and he had intercourse with her, then he desired to part with her and divorced her, or he died, she becomes permissible for the first husband. She returns to the first husband with three divorces remaining, meaning he starts the count of divorces anew. This is based on the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He:
Divorce is twice. Then, either keep [her] in an acceptable manner or release [her] with good treatment.
الطَّلاقُ مَرَّتانِ فَإِمساكٌ بِمَعروفٍ أَو تَسريحٌ بِإِحسانٍAnd if he has divorced her [for the third time], then she is not lawful to him afterward until [after] she marries a husband other than him. And if the latter
فَإِن طَلَّقَها فَلا تَحِلُّ لَهُ مِن بَعدُ حَتّى تَنكِحَ زَوجًا غَيرَهُ فَإِن طَلَّقَهاthen there is no blame upon either of them
فَلا جُناحَ عَلَيهِماfor returning to each other if they think that they can keep [within] the limits of Allah
أَن يَتَراجَعا إِن ظَنّا أَن يُقيما حُدودَ اللَّهِThe questioner : May Allah bless you...
The Shaykh : This is different from the case where her husband divorced her twice, then she married another husband, he had intercourse with her, then he divorced her or died, and then she returned to the first husband, meaning the first husband married her again. In that case, she returns to him with whatever remains of her divorces. That is, if he divorces her, she becomes forbidden to him until she marries another husband, because only one divorce remains for him.
The point of difference between the two is that the marriage in the second case, meaning the marriage of the second husband in the second case, had no effect. This is unlike the marriage of the second husband in the first case, which had an effect: it made her permissible for the first husband, thereby nullifying the previous divorces. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.