Answered by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad
A man divorced his wife three times, and for him to go back to his ex-wife, another man must marry her first according to the shafi madhab right? Does that man have to have sexual intercourse with her, or are the nikah and the divorce all that are needed for her ex-husband to go back to her?
In the name of Allah, the most Merciful, the most Compassionate.
In the Shafi’I school, if a man has divorced his wife three times, she may only marry him again after she has married someone else, had sexual intercourse with her new husband, and then been divorced by the new husband (or if he dies) (Reliance, n7.7).
Scholars emphasize that divorce is a serious matter and should not be taken lightly. Seemingly insignificant words can have tremendous effects.
One of the wisdoms behind the prescription of rulings such as the one described above is for spouses to take heed and not even utter the “d-word” in their arguments or in jest. The word should only be uttered after they have deliberated and then seriously and consciously decided to end their marriage.
And Allah knows best.