What is the Islamic ruling on a husband who divorced his wife then denied divorcing her?

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, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

If a wife claimed that her husband divorced her and the husband denied, then it is his say; for marriage is maintained, in principle, unless the wife has a proof on the divorce, i.e. two trustworthy and pious Muslim witnesses testifying that the husband divorced her. The same ruling applies if the spouses differed whether the divorce was revocable or irrevocable; it is the husband’s say in this case too.

If the husband divorced his wife thrice, i.e. an irrevocable divorce and then denied it; then it is his say; for, principally, the marriage is intact unless the wife has a proof that backs her claim, i.e. two trustworthy witnesses, who are not among her ascendants or descendants, or have vested interests, testifying that the husband had divorced her. In this case, the wife should deny her husband and ransom herself to get away from him if she had to.

Moreover, Ibn Qudaamah elaborated on this topic in his book Al-Mughni: “This is the opinion of most of Muslim scholars; for she knows that she is no longer his wife and is unlawful for him; accordingly, it is obligatory on her to abstain from having sexual intercourse with him and flee from him just like any other woman would do if a man tries to compel her to have sexual intercourse with him.”

Allaah Knows best.