Is the ijtihad of 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) regarding the triple divorce considered ijtihad in the presence of an explicit text?

The questioner : Regarding the ijtihad of 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) in the matter of the triple divorce, is this not ijtihad in a place where there is an explicit text?

The Shaykh : In what?

The questioner : Is it ijtihad in a place where there is an explicit text, where there is no ijtihad in a place where there is an explicit text?

The Shaykh : In the issue of divorce?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : No, and we said what we said earlier so that we would not say this phrase, "There is no ijtihad in the place of the text." This is a statement on which there is no disagreement among the scholars. If 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah forbid it) had said, "Every divorce pronounced with the wording of three is three," that would be ijtihad in the place of the text and would be rejected. But he, as I mentioned earlier, and the real issue is to clarify this so that we do not say, even as a possibility, such a statement regarding 'Umar's ijtihad in the subject of divorce. 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, meaning: "I see that people have hastened in a matter in which they had patience." This means that the Wise Lawgiver legislated for them divorce with one pronouncement and a waiting period, one pronouncement and a waiting period, and so on, as we indicated earlier in the verse: In this way, Allah gave the divorcer time and gave him a place for reflection and deliberation. So, for example, if he does not find life pleasant with his wife, the Wise Lawgiver tells him: Divorce her with a revocable divorce and think about the outcome. And He permitted him, as you know, to take her back during the waiting period twice. As for the three: , those who combined the triple divorce in one pronouncement and executed it upon their wives, these people contradicted the Shari'ah. The Wise Lawgiver gave them patience, but they hastened in the matter. So, after studying this issue, our Master 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) looked into the matter and did not apply the ruling he saw. Then he said: "It has become apparent to me to execute it upon them as a punishment for them." And not as a change of the ruling of the Shari'ah, but as a punishment for them: for those who hastened by contradicting the Shari'ah, so he made it three. This is a name from the category of ta'zir (discretionary punishment), and not from the category of changing the ruling, because no word came from him that contradicts the original ruling of the Shari'ah. And he knew, as we mentioned earlier, that this was how the matter was in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), in the time of Abu Bakr, and in his own time. Therefore, he did not execute the ruling at all until he thought, measured, and consulted, etc. Then he said: "It has become apparent to me to execute it upon them." So he announced that whoever combines the divorce with the wording of three, we will separate him from his family. So this is not from the category of change, but from the category of ta'zir. Then something I must mention on this occasion is: that the Companions of the Messenger (peace be upon him), as you know, truly did not fear the blame of anyone in Allah. If they did not know that 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, in what appeared to him regarding executing the triple divorce as three, was a mujtahid (scholar qualified to derive rulings) whose ijtihad was permissible for him and not contrary to the Shari'ah, if they did not know that, they would have hastened to disapprove of it, because there was no showing off or hypocrisy among them, and they did not fear the blame of anyone in Allah. And the story that is narrated, and although there is weakness in its chain in my opinion: "That when 'Umar gave a sermon on Friday and informed the people that it had reached him that people were exaggerating in the mahr (bridal gift) of their women, and that if it reached him that a man had taken a mahr greater than four hundred dirhams, the mahr that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) took for his daughters, or paid to his wives, he would take the excess and add it to the treasury of the Muslims. So an old woman stood up and said to him: O Commander of the Faithful, the matter is not in your hand. Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said: . So he said: 'A man erred and a woman was right.'" And this story, as I said, has in its chain a man named Majdal ibn Sa'id, and the scholars are divided between those who weaken his narration and those who improve it, as a rule; some weaken his hadith and some improve it, and we are with the weakening.
The point is, likewise, it is good as an example that they did not fear the blame of anyone in Allah. 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, while giving a sermon on Friday: when 'Uthman ibn 'Affan entered, he said: "What is the matter with one of you that he delays the Friday prayer and does not attend the dhikr, meaning the khutbah (sermon)?" So 'Uthman said: "O Commander of the Faithful, it was not except that I heard the adhan (call to prayer) and I came." He said: "And the adhan too?! Did you not hear the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): , because 'Uthman did not mention the ghusl (full ritual bath); he did not say: 'When I heard the adhan, I hastened to perform the ghusl and came.' No, he said: 'I heard the adhan and came.' He said to him: "Even so, where are you from the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): ? So the Companions did not have the social hypocrisy that exists today; they would disapprove of something even simpler than that. But despite that, they respected the opinion of the Commander of the Faithful, because, as you know, this is in reality a great virtue for him: ; and therefore they did not fear the blame of anyone in Allah on one hand, and on the other hand they respected the ijtihad of the Commander of the Faithful, because he mostly spoke the truth and did not deviate from it by a hair's breadth. This is what we testify to Allah with, and Allah knows best.