I would be grateful if you could reply to this urgently & help me with the following situation.
I have been married to my husband for 9 years now & alhamdullilah we have 2 children.
My husband was previously married & has 4 children now they are aged between 15 & 23.
My husband divorced his ex-wife 11 years ago. It was a forced marriage by his father at the age of 19. Since marriage he has tried on several occasions to divorce his wife but due to family pressure, pregnancy & having children etc. He was unable to divorce her. Within the last 1-2 years of his divorce at 1 stage he said 1 talak to his wife & left her with her maternal family but she came back refusing the divorce. Within the last 4-6 months of his final divorce he said 2 talaks to his wife in front of a witness who stopped him from saying the 3rd talak which was accepted as incomplete talak. (his family & himself were brought up to believe that 3 talaks needed to be said at once to complete the talak and after that they are divorce & he could not re-marry her without her getting married to another man).
Within a few months after that he pronounced ” I give u 1 talak 2 talak 3 talak, I have given u 3 talaks and our marriage has ended now”. There was 1 witness. He prounced this with the intention of 3 irrevocable talaks to end his marriage once & for all so no one can force him or pressure him to keep her as a wife again. After this all families were informed of the 3 talaks taking place & everybody accepted the talak & they both seperated. There was no knowledge or any issues regarding the idhaa period.
My husband & his ex-wife have been living seperately as divorcees for the past 11 years.
My husband married me saying & confirming to myself & my family that he has completed his 3 talaks which was also confirmed verbaly by his family & friends. He said he will complete the court divorce & also complete the divorce through islamic sharia council so there are no future problems regarding his previous marriage but he has not completed these yet saying what is the need if the islamic divorce is done verbaly, and now there is an issue regarding his divorce. My question is If this was agreed at the weddind time should he complete both these processes? He says i am bad & wrong for asking him to complete these. Am I in the wrong to ask him to do this?
Now after 11 years due to other peoples interpretation of the divorce rules my husband & his ex-wife are influenced to believe that only 1divorce has taken place when he pronounced the last 3 talaks in 1 go & believe that they are still classed as married after 11years seperation & also they have ingnored the previous 2 pronunciation of talaks. Now they believe that 3 different talaks at 3 different times has to be pronounced for the talak to be complete & come to effect.
I believe there was a big musunderstanding of talak proceedure at the time but it was misunderstood unknowingly & it is still being misunderstood But however the intentions were to divorce & end the marriage completely as 3 divorces.
I would be grateful if you could confirm & advise if they can still class this as still being married or if the divorce is complete & taken effect, is it 1,2 or 3 talaks & whether it is revocable or irrevocable talak & if my husband was to go back to her will he need to re-marry her with new contract or will she need to get married to another man first?
If the divorce has taken place then does my husband need to clear the missunderstanding with his ex-wife and confirm that they are divorced & also the remaining mehr has not been paid yet, does he need to pay this as he has never seen the original marriage certificate & doesn’t know how much is agreed or how much is outstanding?
I would be grateful if you could kindly reply to this urgently as this is causing problems in our marriage. Jazak Allah.
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykumwa-rahmatullāhiwa-barakātuh.
You referred to three instance of talaq.
In the first instance, your husband issued his first wife one talaq.
In the second instance, he issued her two talaqs and a person stopped him from issuing the third talaq.
In the third instance, he issued her three talaqs. He said, I give you 1 talaq. 2 talaq 3 talaq.
In principle, when in the second instance your husband issued her two talaqs, his nikah with her terminated permanently (talaq-e-mugallazah). As such, they cannot live together as husband and wife.
You state that there is another opinion that states that three talaqs are one. According to us that opinion is incorrect. Three talaqs issued in one sitting is regarded as three.
You may refer to our research on that at: http://www.askimam.org/public/question_detail/17287
In any event, even according to that interpretation, everyone is unanimous that talaq issued in different sittings are valid. No one disputes this. In the enquired situation, talaqs were issued in three instances and three different sittings, Even if we assume that the three talaqs are one, on the third instance that was proceeded by two more instances which constitutes three talaqs, even according to those that believe three talaqs in one sitting is one. Therefore, your husband’s nikah with the other woman is unanimously terminated. Now if she wants to reconcile with her husband she has to undergo a halalah procedure. Halalah is when the divorcee spends her iddat of divorce after which she marries another person. The new marriage is then consummated. The second husband then divorces his wife or passes away. The woman then waits for her iddat to finish after which she may re-marry the first husband if she wishes to.(1)
With regards to the mahr, you stated that your husband does not recall the amount that was stipulated. In this case he can find out from her or her family members the amount stipulated.
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Zakir Husain
Student DarulIftaa
Michigan, U.S.A
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
(1) المبسوط لسرخسي ج7 ص141
حَدِيثُ ابْنِ عُمَرَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهُ أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ { إذَا طَلَّقَ امْرَأَتَهُ ثَلَاثًا فَتَزَوَّجَتْ بِزَوْجٍ آخَرَ لَمْ تَحِلَّ لِلْأَوَّلِ حَتَّى تَذُوقَ مِنْ عُسَيْلَتِهِ وَيَذُوقَ مِنْ عُسَيْلَتِهَا } وَمِنْهُ حَدِيثُ عَائِشَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا { أَنَّ رِفَاعَةَ الْقُرَظِيَّ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ طَلَّقَ امْرَأَتَهُ فَأَبَتَّ طَلَاقَهَا فَتَزَوَّجَتْ بِعَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ الزُّبَيْرِ رَضِيَ
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