Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh Brother/Sister. I have just found a question to you regarding the divorce; I mean, one Afghan girl got married in Afghanistan with an Afghan man who has lived in Germany for years, and after spending 20 days, he went to Germany and left his wife in his father-in-law's home and did not appear for four years. Then the girl's family presented this issue to the court of justice, and it took more than nine months to verify the case; finally, the court, in the absence of her husband, announced the divorce statement of the two couples, and she has not gotten married with anyone else so far. Now, however, after five years, her husband came and wants to live with this girl. The girl's family has already finalized the document based on the Islamic sharia law. So please guide us in this issue. Thank you in advance. Yours brother, Ahmad.

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. {C}

If a verdict has been issued by a sharee'ah court to terminate this woman’s marriage with her husband, then we have no say or comment on such a verdict. If the husband comes back before she remarries another man, then he is more entitled to have her back in marriage, as the scholars advised. Imaam Maalik wrote about the wife of a missing person, "If the first husband returns before she remarries another man, then he has more right to her..." [Al-Muwatta’]

If that woman had already remarried, then the scholars held different opinions regarding which of the two husbands is more entitled to her, and the scholarly views vary based on whether the first husband had consummated the marriage or not and on similar details that necessitate referring the case to the sharee'ah court to get a verdict. The verdict of the judge in this case is binding and final in ending the scholarly difference of opinion when it comes to deciding a ruling on matters open for ijtihaad (personal reasoning).

For more benefit, please refer to fatwa 83671.

Allaah knows best.