Q: I am actually taking a fiqh course on marriage and divorce but I still don’t understand the concepts and I would like to get a second opinion on a question where there is a difference of opinion. If a person uses metaphors of divorce statements with the intention of “wanting to divorce” in the future tense but not to issue a divorce on the spot, are these statements considered in hanafi madhab? My understanding is that they will not count because divorce was not issued on the spot but I read somewhere that it does. Can I please get a second opinion?
A: Could you clearly explain what you mean by: ” metaphors of divorce statements with the intention of “wanting to divorce” in the future tense”?
Q: What I mean is, if I tell my wife “go back to india” or “get out” with the intention of divorcing in the future but not actually issuing on the spot, are these statements considered? In other words, I wanted to divorce my wife because I was not happy with my situation which is why I said those statements but I did not want to annul the marriage right then and there, it was more like angry statements.
A: If a person uttered an ambiguous word (e.g. go back to India or get out) which could imply talaaq, if at the time of uttering the word he intended talaaq, one talaaq-e-baa’in will immediately take place.
And Allah Ta’ala knows best.
الطلاق على ضربين صريح وكناية فالصريح قوله أنت طالق ومطلقة وطلقتك فهذا يقع به الطلاق الرجعي … ولا يفتقر إلى النية (الهداية 2/359)
وأما الضرب الثاني وهو الكنايات لا يقع بها الطلاق إلا بالنية أو بدلالة الحال (الهداية 2/373)
وعن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه قال : جاء ناس من أصحاب رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إلى النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فسألوه إنا نجد في أنفسنا ما يتعاظم أحدنا أن يتكلم به قال أو قد وجدتموه قالوا نعم قال ذاك صريح الإيمان (رواه مسلم باب بيان الوسوسة في الإيمان وما يقوله من وجدها 1/79)
Answered by:
Mufti Zakaria Makada
Checked & Approved:
Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)