A Question on the Ruling of Conditional Divorce
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Question: From 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Baz, to the honorable brother, M. 'A. D., may Allah guide him to what pleases Him, amen.
Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. After that:
Your noble letter, dated 18/9/1394 AH, has reached me, may Allah guide you. It contained your report regarding the nature of the divorce you pronounced on your wife, which was that you said in a state of anger: "I am divorcing her with a divorce from which there is no return, and if I take her back, my two wives will be divorced." This was known.
Answer: If the reality is as you described, and no divorce preceded it and no divorce followed it, then what occurred is considered one pronouncement of divorce. You may take her back as long as she is in the waiting period ('iddah). If she has exited the waiting period, she is not lawful to you again except through a new marriage, with its conditions considered valid by the Shari'ah. This is because it is authentically reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), in the hadith of Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), what indicates this.
As for your statement: "And if I take her back, my two wives will be divorced," this varies according to the variation of your intention. If you intended to divorce your two wives if you took back the aforementioned wife, then one pronouncement of divorce falls on each of them (if you take back the aforementioned wife).
However, if you intended by that to prevent yourself from taking her back, and your intention was not to divorce your two wives if you took her back, then this is considered an oath. You must pay its expiation if you take her back, because the purpose therein is to affirm to yourself not to take back the aforementioned wife.
The expiation of an oath is: feeding ten poor people, giving each poor person half a sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg) of the staple food of the land, or clothing them, or freeing a slave.
And I ask Allah to guide us and you and the rest of the Muslims to what pleases Him; indeed, He is Generous and Noble.
And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. After that:
Your noble letter, dated 18/9/1394 AH, has reached me, may Allah guide you. It contained your report regarding the nature of the divorce you pronounced on your wife, which was that you said in a state of anger: "I am divorcing her with a divorce from which there is no return, and if I take her back, my two wives will be divorced." This was known.
Answer: If the reality is as you described, and no divorce preceded it and no divorce followed it, then what occurred is considered one pronouncement of divorce. You may take her back as long as she is in the waiting period ('iddah). If she has exited the waiting period, she is not lawful to you again except through a new marriage, with its conditions considered valid by the Shari'ah. This is because it is authentically reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), in the hadith of Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), what indicates this.
As for your statement: "And if I take her back, my two wives will be divorced," this varies according to the variation of your intention. If you intended to divorce your two wives if you took back the aforementioned wife, then one pronouncement of divorce falls on each of them (if you take back the aforementioned wife).
However, if you intended by that to prevent yourself from taking her back, and your intention was not to divorce your two wives if you took her back, then this is considered an oath. You must pay its expiation if you take her back, because the purpose therein is to affirm to yourself not to take back the aforementioned wife.
The expiation of an oath is: feeding ten poor people, giving each poor person half a sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg) of the staple food of the land, or clothing them, or freeing a slave.
And I ask Allah to guide us and you and the rest of the Muslims to what pleases Him; indeed, He is Generous and Noble.
And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.