Q: I have question regarding Divorce in Islam while living in USA. I separated from my wife due to some domestic issues that took place between us 10 months ago. While separated I decided to divorce my wife due to the gravity of issues. As I don’t wanted to utter the word Talaq I hired an attorney to do the job for me in compliance with US Law; we both waited for the legal period of time for talaq to be granted by judge. On day 7/19/2016 judge granted us divorce with the statement of right of Information for us that I am copy pasting for you to read (in Red). “ Within the thirty days following the date the divorce is granted (7/19) the court can vacate the divorce and restore judicial proceedings which will have the effect of reinstating the marriage as though it never happened. If reconciliation is going to occur then both parties would move to dismiss their individual claims (nonsuit their claims) and the divorce proceedings end. Getting that done requires both parties to agree to both parts of that process. If both parties do not agree to ask the court to vacate the divorce then the judge is unlikely to do so without a clear legal reason why the divorce is defective. That’s unlikely when both parties agreed to the divorce decree. If your wife agrees to vacate but does not agree to nonsuit her claims then she can still move forward with the divorce on her own even if you do not want it. Or vice versa”. Knowing that Islam too gives the 30 days period to reconcile (or Rujou) from date of first divorce, my wife raised a question, thinking that whether those US court procedures are in accordance with our Islamic law. Please provide us an answer under the Islamic law which clear the confusion weather our marriage is valid anymore, as we have reconcile (or Rooju) with in the time frame (30 days) granted by Islam as well as by US law. In civil divorce, there is just 1 final divorce equals to 3. Do you think we can reconcile Islamically or divorce has been done?
A: The talaaq is valid. If you have employed someone else to issue the talaaq on your behalf this divorce is also recognised.
And Allah Ta’ala (الله تعالى) knows best.
Answered by:
Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)