The ruling on one who is uncertain about the number of divorces

Question:
This is a question from a listener (M.A.M.), an Egyptian who works as a teacher in northern Yemen. He says: I got married, and after a period of time, my wife went to her father's house with my permission. There was a misunderstanding between me and her father; when she was late in coming back, I thought they had prevented her from returning. I got angry and went to her father's house. Her father came out, and when I asked him why she had not come, he said: She is sick. I said to him: Bring her out to me so I can divorce her. He said to me: Say it, and I will convey it to her. I said to him: Tell her: She is divorced. I left the house, and as I was leaving, I muttered some words, among which I remember: "I have divorced her three times," or "What is it?" or "What is binding on me?" When I reached my house and came to my senses, I realized that I had been hasty and I regretted it. I went to one of the scholars for a ruling on this, as she was in her ninth month of pregnancy at the time. I asked two of them, and they said: It is one divorce. I went with two men and took my wife back before she gave birth, and she bore me two daughters. However, I felt that I had divorced her three times because that was my intention. What should I do now? And if she is divorced, what are her rights that are obligatory upon me?
Knowing that she is not pregnant now? Yes.

Answer:
This depends on what came from you. If you only divorced her once when you said: She is divorced, then taking her back is permissible, and only one divorce has passed for her, provided you had not divorced her previously.
As for the muttering that came after that, you know it best. If you divorced her a second and third time, you know that best. What is right for you is that you must return her to her family, and you must repent to Allah for what you did of having intercourse with her after divorcing her. You must seek forgiveness, repent, and feel remorse. The children are attributed to you due to the doubt that arose for you.
If the muttering did not contain an explicit divorce, but was just words, meaning: you did not understand them, and you did not know their meaning, then this does not harm you. She is your wife, and only one divorce has occurred for her. What is required of you is to fear Allah and be mindful of Him (Glorified and Exalted is He). If you know that you divorced her two other times after you left her father, then the three are complete, and you must return her to her family, along with repentance and seeking forgiveness. Your children are attributed to you due to the doubt, and you must be kind to her and to her children, according to the Shari'ah ruling on providing for her children.
Or, if you muttered something that is not understandable, and not comprehensible, or that you do not understand, or that you do not comprehend due to the intensity of anger, or due to obsessions, or due to other things, then there is no action upon her and it is not considered. What is considered is the one divorce you said to her father, and the taking back is valid, and your wife is with you, and praise be to Allah. Yes.

The presenter: May Allah bless you.