Home » Hanafi Fiqh » Askimam.org » Can you please tell me based on my problem description below that what I am suffering from falls under the ruling of waswasaah or not?I have read that some Hanafi scholars say that divorce takes effect as long as a person’s tongue moves within his mouth even if he does not speak the divorce words out loud. Is this a valid ruling?

Can you please tell me based on my problem description below that what I am suffering from falls under the ruling of waswasaah or not?I have read that some Hanafi scholars say that divorce takes effect as long as a person’s tongue moves within his mouth even if he does not speak the divorce words out loud. Is this a valid ruling?

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Askimam.org

1. I have read your responses to questions about divorce uttered due to waswassah etc and that such divorce in usually not counted cause the person repeating such statements do not intend to make a divorce statement at all.

 Can you please tell me based on my problem description below that what I am suffering from falls under the ruling of waswasaah or not?

  Lately I have read many fatwas about divorce and due to this I have developed this physcological/mental problem where the divorce statements just keep repeating in my head at times. I try to keep myself busy and they go away but when I am free or driving to work etc they come back. The problem is they are NOT JUST THOUGHTS. Sometimes I find myself repeating them to myself in my mouth in whispers. They are not too loud but rather soft whispers in low voice due to these constant thoughts of divorce. I say such statements to myself – I DO NOT WANT TO SAY,  I DIVORCE MY WIFE  or I WILL NEVER SAY,  I DIVORCE MY WIFE and sometimes I just say I DIVORCE MY WIFE but then with slight pause (within a second) I say NO I DO NOT WANT TO MAKE ANY SUCH STATEMENT. All this is talking to myself due to these constant compulsive thoughts of divorce. The main thing is it is not just thoughts and rather utterances in low voice to myself.

  I have no doubts that I am saying them or not saying them. I know I am saying them to myself due to these compulsive thoughts but I swear by Allah that I have no intention to divorce at all and I am just repeating these to myself due to these divorce thoughts. I do not intend to make such a statement and I am tired of this problem.

  I wanted to clarify that whether this falls under waswasah because I originally thought waswasah is only when someone has doubts about whether they did something or did not do it and they are confused. In my case I know I am repeating those statements to myself in whispers or soft low voice but I do not wish to say them. I start crying at times that why is this problem happening to me.

  Please let me know if such instances of repeating divorce statements to myself will be counted as divorce OR whether they fall under the category of waswasah and not counted as divorce?

2. I have read that some Hanafi scholars (or may be scholars from other schools of thought) say that divorce takes effect as long as a person’s tongue moves within his mouth even if he does not speak the divorce words out loud. Is this a valid ruling? I was under the impression that divorce must be uttered as a clear and out loud statement for it to take effect.

Jazzak Allah.

Answer

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Assalaamu `alaykum waRahmatullahi Wabarakatoh

It appears that you are suffering from a medical condition that affects the balance of your thought and mind. There are many people who experience a similar problem and get medical treatment. We advise that you consult a physician and once he diagnoses your sickness, you should make two people your witness that you utter the words of divorce as a consequence of your sickness and you have no intention if divorcing your wife. Accordingly, your pronounces of divorces due to your medical condition will not constitute talaq.

And Allah knows best

Wassalam

Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Darul Iftaa, Madrassah In’aamiyyah

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This answer was collected from Askimam.org, which is operated under the supervision of Mufti Ebrahim Desai from South Africa.

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