The ruling on one who pronounces triple divorce in a single utterance while intending only one
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From 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Baz, to the honorable brother, the virtuous judge of Dhahrān al-Janūb, may Allah grant him understanding, amen.
Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. After that:
O beloved, your noble letter, number 710, dated 9/8/1388 AH, has arrived, may Allah guide you. I have reviewed what your virtue recorded regarding the manner of the divorce that occurred from the husband, M. 'A., to his wife. It is that he divorced her with three divorces in a single utterance, intending thereby only one divorce, and he had not divorced her before that. The woman confirmed to him the manner of the divorce, and that he had not divorced her before that, and his taking her back immediately, according to the evidence.
Answer: Based on that, I issued a ruling to the aforementioned husband: that one divorce has occurred on the aforementioned wife with the divorce mentioned, and his taking her back is valid; because it is authentically reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) what indicates the aforementioned ruling, as is not hidden.
So I hope from your virtue to inform everyone of that, and to order the husband to repent from his aforementioned divorce; because pronouncing three divorces is not permissible, as your virtue knows that. May Allah reward you, and guide your steps, and reward you with good for everyone.
As for what your virtue indicated: that if the people of the land divorce one of them with three, they do not intend anything but three; because most of them are illiterate, and they have nothing but the apparent meaning of what they utter, and that if the door is opened for them, perhaps many of them will take this path; because of their lack of knowledge of what is beyond that; due to the strong ignorance that has settled in their minds, except for whom Allah has guided, for he has understood it.
It is not hidden from your virtue that such ignorance and such belief do not prevent issuing them a ruling that conforms to the Shari'ah, and in which there is relief for them, and a solution to great problems; because the majority of triple divorces occur in a state of anger, followed by severe regret afterwards. And it is authentically reported from the hadith of Ibn 'Abbas what indicates what we mentioned earlier, regarding considering the three as one divorce if they occur in a single utterance. This is the least that can be derived from the hadith. And a large number of scholars adopted this, among them Ibn 'Abbas in an authentic narration from him, and Muhammad ibn Isحاق -the author of the Sirah- and others. And it is part of what was chosen by the Shaykh al-Islam Abu al-'Abbas Ibn Taymiyyah, and his student the scholar Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on them both).
And I ask Allah to grant them and all our brothers success in hitting the truth in speech and action, and to rectify the conditions of all Muslims, and to grant them understanding in the religion.
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:
O beloved, your noble letter, number 710, dated 9/8/1388 AH, has arrived, may Allah guide you. I have reviewed what your virtue recorded regarding the manner of the divorce that occurred from the husband, M. 'A., to his wife. It is that he divorced her with three divorces in a single utterance, intending thereby only one divorce, and he had not divorced her before that. The woman confirmed to him the manner of the divorce, and that he had not divorced her before that, and his taking her back immediately, according to the evidence.
Answer: Based on that, I issued a ruling to the aforementioned husband: that one divorce has occurred on the aforementioned wife with the divorce mentioned, and his taking her back is valid; because it is authentically reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) what indicates the aforementioned ruling, as is not hidden.
So I hope from your virtue to inform everyone of that, and to order the husband to repent from his aforementioned divorce; because pronouncing three divorces is not permissible, as your virtue knows that. May Allah reward you, and guide your steps, and reward you with good for everyone.
As for what your virtue indicated: that if the people of the land divorce one of them with three, they do not intend anything but three; because most of them are illiterate, and they have nothing but the apparent meaning of what they utter, and that if the door is opened for them, perhaps many of them will take this path; because of their lack of knowledge of what is beyond that; due to the strong ignorance that has settled in their minds, except for whom Allah has guided, for he has understood it.
It is not hidden from your virtue that such ignorance and such belief do not prevent issuing them a ruling that conforms to the Shari'ah, and in which there is relief for them, and a solution to great problems; because the majority of triple divorces occur in a state of anger, followed by severe regret afterwards. And it is authentically reported from the hadith of Ibn 'Abbas what indicates what we mentioned earlier, regarding considering the three as one divorce if they occur in a single utterance. This is the least that can be derived from the hadith. And a large number of scholars adopted this, among them Ibn 'Abbas in an authentic narration from him, and Muhammad ibn Isحاق -the author of the Sirah- and others. And it is part of what was chosen by the Shaykh al-Islam Abu al-'Abbas Ibn Taymiyyah, and his student the scholar Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on them both).
And I ask Allah to grant them and all our brothers success in hitting the truth in speech and action, and to rectify the conditions of all Muslims, and to grant them understanding in the religion.
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.