Three years of no co-habitation or lived under a common roof, whether the relationship still subsists? Is triple talaq valid? And if wife goes out without informing and not returned even after three years and also she being gainfully employed, is she eligible for maintenance during her iddah period? I request you to please reply me the Shariah rulings to the question asked by me.
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
(Fatwa: 49/42/N=01/1436)
(1) Merely by living separate physically from wife for three years or less, no talaq occurs rather the marital relation remains intact.
“وهو – أي: الطلاق – ……شرعا رفع قيد النكاح فى الحال بالبائن أو المال بالرجعي بلفظ مخصوص هو ما اشتمل على الطلاق” (در مختار مع الشامى 4:426-423 مطبوعه مكتبه زكريا ديوبند).
(2) If the husband gives her talaq in the same condition of Nushuz (violation of marital duties) and the woman does not pass iddah at the house of husband then she shall not be entitled to receive the maintenance expenses of iddah.
وفى المجتبى: نفقة العدة كنفقة النكاح’ وفى الذخيرة: وتسقط بالنشوز وتعود بالعود (شامى 5: 333)
Allah knows Best!
Darul Ifta,
Darul Uloom Deoband