Answered by Shaykh Amjad Rasheed
Translated by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad
I authorized my father to divorce my wife for me, though I did not tell him how many pronouncements of divorce to make. I was very surprised when I found out that he made three pronouncements. Is the divorce valid and could I take her back?
If someone authorizes another person to divorce his wife for him but does specify the number of divorces that should be issued, then the agent is only authorized to pronounce a single divorce.
So if the agent makes three pronouncements of divorce, only one of them counts and the rest have no effect.
Ibn Hajar said in the Tuhfa (Section: Authorizing Someone Else to Divorce on One’s Behalf), “… Consequently, if one says to a man, ‘Divorce my wife,’ without specifying the number of times he should divorce her, and the agent pronounces three divorces, then only a single divorce is effected.” (Tuhfat al-Muhtaj, 8/26)