Divorce based on false accusation does not take effect Fatwa No: 234310
- Fatwa Date:17-1-2014
asam aleikum. Is divorcen under a false accusation still valid? I have written to my wife "Divorced divorced divorced" on the basis of incorrect and false accusation. I dit not intent 3 separate divorces when i wrote it. Shortly after I found out that she was completely innocent. I have read a fatwa that divorce does not count under false accusation (Ibn Taymiyyah and others that also supports this). I hope inshallah to hear your answers. I am very desperate.
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. You might be referring to what Ibn Al-Qayyim said in his book I’laam Al-Muwaqqi’een under the discussion of the prohibition of what leads to sin and the unlawfulness of trickery. He ascribed this to Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah saying that if divorce was conditioned on a reason and then that reason proved untrue, then the divorce is not effective, and that there is no difference between whether the reason was pronounced or not. Ibn Al-Qayyim said: “... What is meant is that if the husband had conditioned divorce on a reason and then it becomes clear that that reason does not exist, then, according to the view of Ahmad, the divorce does not take place. And according to our Shaykh [Ibn Taymiyyah], it is not a condition for the reason to be pronounced in words, and according to him, there is no difference between divorcing her for a reason that was mentioned in words or not mentioned; if it becomes clear that the reason did not take place, then divorce does not take place. This must be the only appropriate opinion in the [Hanbali] school and according to the principles of the Imaams.” This is a strong view; accordingly, if you divorced your wife based on what you heard about her and then you found out that the matter is otherwise, then divorce does not take place. Finally, we would like to point out the two following matters: 1- It is not permissible to accuse a Muslim without evidence, as by default, a Muslim is innocent; Allaah says (what means): {O you who have believed, avoid much [negative] assumption. Indeed, some assumption is sin.}[Quran 49:12] The spouses, more than anyone else, should not harbor suspicions about each other. They should wait until they verify matters so as not to do something they will regret afterwards. Allaah says (what means): {O you who have believed if there comes to you a disobedient one with information, investigate, lest you harm a people out of ignorance and become, over what you have done, regretful.}[Quran 49:6] 2- One should avoid as much as possible pronouncing the word of divorce. Instead there are many other legitimate methods to solve the problems that may arise in married life.