Assalam-o-Alaikum, I am Saima from Quetta Pakistan. I got married 4 years back and have a child of two years old now.. 1. On 15th July 2009 My husband told me"I AM GIVING YOU ONE DIVORSE - I AM USING MY ONE RIGHT, TWO ARE STILL WITH ME" 2. He did "RUJU" on 11th August..means my Iddah period become finished. 3. On 2nd September 2009 he told me infront of his father and sister (while pressurizing me to go to my mothers home) "I HAVE GIVEN YOU DIVORE, I HAVE GIVEN YOU DIVORSE" 4. His father and sister told me that now three divorses are completed..but at that time I clearly noticed that he was talking about/giving reference of his past one divorse.. he also forgot the tense in which he talked..but according to him his intention was not (Allah knows better). Fortunately i have audio record and he clearly told that "I have given you divorse, I have given you divorse" 5. My husband told me many times infront of his mother and sisters (who want him to leave me) that "I HAVE LEFT MY WIFE" 6. He told few of his relatives that "HE HAS GIVEN ME DIVORSE AFTER 2nd September 2009" 7. What about the situation that if he used the word that "I HAVE GIVEN THREE DIVORSES TO MY WIFE" 8. he is unawre about this sensitive issue of divorse.. so used so many times the word I left her. and "given divorse" and now blaiming me that "As you were not leaving home for which my mother was pressurzing me.." 9. Please tell me my position according to Islam (Fiqa-e-Hanafi) as now a days i am living in my mother home; my this Iddah will be finished on 30 November 2009. Husband is also confused but beleived that divorse may be happened if he said the words (even without his intention or without the way as he was refering past one etc.). He is not doing any "RUJU" fearing that Divorse may be happened? Thanks & regards, Saima

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

The saying of a husband to his wife “I am giving you divorce’, is a promise of divorce and in this case divorce does not take place unless the husband intended it. However, it appears that your husband intended to initiate divorce; the evidence is what he mentioned after this, and also that you observed a waiting period and then he took you back. Besides, it seems that what you meant with him taking you back that he did so during the waiting period and not after it had expired, because the waiting period does not end in the time-length that you mentioned which is one month, unless a woman is pregnant and she gave birth to her baby. For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 82541.

Moreover, the saying of your husband to you “I have given you divorce”, “I have given you divorce” are clear words of divorce and divorce takes place with these words even if your husband did not intend it and, by this statement, divorce takes effect twice according to the view of the majority of the scholars unless your husband intended to confirm the first divorce by uttering the second divorce. In which case, only one divorce took place.  However, his statement after this ‘I have given three divorces to my wife’ confirms that he wanted to initiate divorce and he did not want just to inform about the divorce that had happened in the past and it confirms as well that he wanted to initiate a new divorce by repeating the words (I have given you divorce) and that he did not want to confirm what he said first.

Therefore, you have become irrevocably divorced from your husband and you will not become lawful for him until you marry another man a true marriage and he consummates the marriage with you and then he divorces you or dies. The fact that the husband is not aware of the issue of divorce does not prevent divorce from taking place.

We have already mentioned to you that clear words of divorce do not need intention for divorce to take place. The fact that your husband does not remember the tense in which he talked, i.e. whether or not he was referring with his words to the first divorce that he had initiated, then the jurists are of the view that initiating divorce takes priority over confirming divorce, and if the words are not clear whether they are to initiate divorce or to confirm it, they have to be considered as initiating divorce. They gave an example for when a husband says to his wife: ‘you are divorced’, ‘you are divorced’, and he did not intend anything, then this repetition is considered as initiating a new divorce; Al-Hamawi from the Hanafi School of jurisprudence mentioned this.

In any case, the indications suggest that your husband wanted to initiate divorce with his statement and that he did not want to confirm the previous divorce; the evidence is that you mentioned that he informed some of his relatives that he divorced you after the 2nd of September, and his statement after this that he divorced you three times.

Finally, it should be noted that the parents of the husband should endeavor to do whatever may achieve the stability of their son and his wife and they should not be a reason for dissension. 

Allaah Knows best.