assalamoualaikum brother please i have let my wife go to stay at her sister place because of some discussion so people told her that its better to have a break and then you can see what happen so this has gone for 3 years without any changes but i have not giving her talaak. but after that i saw that this will not change and give her one talaak and after 3or4 month later she told me she want to come now so i accept her because i have a son . please let me know is that ok in islaam and did do the right things .jazak allah.

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.

First of all, you should know that the mere separation of the spouses from each other without a divorce does not invalidate the bond of marriage no matter how long the period of separation is; for more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 82732 and 89925.

If the husband divorces his wife once, then this is a revocable divorce and he can take her back as long as she is in her waiting period. If her waiting period expires, he is not permitted to take her back except with a new marriage contract. For more benefit on the kinds of divorce, please refer to Fatwa 82541.

It is according to the details in the above-referred Fatwa that we can say if your taking your wife back was valid or not. So, if we presume that you took her back after her waiting period without a new marriage contract, then you must correct the matter by conducting a new marriage contract with the consent of her guardian and the presence of two witnesses. In case there is a child from the intercourse that happened during this period, then the child is traced back to you due to your doubtful marriage [as you had intercourse with her believing that it was lawful for you to do so]. For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 126160.

Finally, it should be noted that both spouses should be keen on achieving the stability of the family and staying away from the reasons of dissension. In case the spouses are divorced, the children will be the first victims as the reality proves this.

Allaah Knows best.