Divorce case
Question:
Sir Thanks indeed for this fruitful site may Allah give you Ajar.
Question is my niece husband on insistence of his father to divorce his wife
says, I leave her, I leave her, I leave her. His father said to him, say I give her divorce three times. The husband says, I do not remember I said this word I divorce her, but his father insists that I am witness you use the words I divorce her three times. His father goes to stamp seller brings an affidavit on which it is written I give
divorce to my wife three times, and then husband reads those papers not with tongue but in heart and signs and sends these papers on the
address of wife. He also sends one check of one lac saying it is your haq
maher. Now after three months husband says I dont remember I said word Divorce and I never intended to divorce her and he said I remember I said I leave her three times with no intention of divorce. He wants to do patch up so that they
live together. Please tell us if the divorce has taken place or there is any room.
Kindly tell us from hanafi point of view. Jazak Allah Khair. May Allah bless you.
Answer
Wa’alaykum as Salam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu,
In the first instance where the husband said: “I leave her, I leave her, I leave her”, no divorce will take place, since the husband clearly states that he had no intention of divorce. Even though his father insists that he was a witness, the statement of the husband will be taken into consideration.
As for signing the papers of the divorce; if the husband was not forced to such an extent that he feared immediate physical harm (as it appears frm your question), then all three of those divorces are valid. The wifes ‘Iddah commenced from the time he signed those documents.
In order to reconcile, the wife will have to go through the process of Halala. This means that she should complete her present ‘Iddah, marry another man and consumate that marriage. Once she comes out of that marriage through divorce or death of that husband, she needs to complete the ‘Iddah of that marriage. Only then can she return back to this husband.
References
الفصل الخامس: في الْكِنَايَاتِ ….. يسأل عن بينته قال نوى الطلاق يسأل كم نوى (المحيط البرهاني – 3/ 226)
ويقع الطلاق كل زوج بالغ عاقل ولو عبدا ولو عبدا او مكرها او هازلا او سفيها او سكران باشارتة او مخطئا
(رد المختار – 3/241-235)
و اما مطلاقات الثلث ،وهو زوال الملك وزوال المحلية أيضا ،حتى لا يجوز له نكاحها قبل التزوج بزوج آخر، لقوله عز وجل (فان طلاقها ،فلا تحل له من بعد حتى تنكح زوجا غيره)(بدائع الصنائع – 4/403)
وان كان الطلاق ثلاثا فى الحرة ،وثنتين فى الامة لم تحل له حتى تنكح زوجا غيره نكاحا صحيحا و يدخل بها ، ثم يطلقها (الهندية – 1/473)
وفي «فتاوى أهل سمرقند»: إذا أكره الرجل بالحبس والضرب على أن يكتب طلاق امرأته فكتب فلانة بنت فلان طالق لا تطلق لأن الكتاب من الغائب جعل بمنزلة الخطاب من الحاضر باعتبار الحاجة، ولا حاجة ههنا حيث احتيج إلى الضرب والله أعلم. (المحيط البرهاني (3/ 528)
وفي البحر أن المراد الإكراه على التلفظ بالطلاق ، فلو أكره على أن يكتب طلاق امرأته فكتب لا تطلق لأن الكتابة أقيمت مقام العبارة باعتبار الحاجة ولا حاجة هنا ، كذا في الخانية (رد المحتار – (4/440)