Assalaamu alaykum. My parents married me to my cousin eight years ago, but the marriage was never consummated. Now he is interested in another girl. My cousin told everyone in my family that he has divorced me. He admitted in front of all family members that he has done all that, but I did not see any paper of divorce and he did not pronounce the divorce in front of me. I want to know, if a man admits this in front of others but does not say these words in front of his wife, has divorce taken place then or not? Please inform me of what Islam says about this.

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

The scholars clarified the conditions under which divorce takes place, whether those are related to the husband issuing divorce, the divorced woman, or the wording. However, these conditions do not include the wife hearing her husband uttering divorce or knowing about it [divorce].

Rather, divorce takes place as soon as the husband issues it. According to the view of the majority of the scholars, it is recommended for the husband to have witnesses; some jurists even conditioned having witnesses for the benefit of protecting the rights and other benefits.

The fatwa of the Standing Committee for Issuing Fataawa reads, “...You (the husband) must announce your divorce to your wife, either by officially writing it or by making it known among the people; and you must have witnesses for it if you want to divorce her, because this leads to Islamic rulings and rights, and so that your wife would know her rights and obligations after divorce...”

Therefore, the matter should not be left suspended like this. So if your husband has actually divorced you, then he should give you the divorce paper so that you can marry someone else. If he refuses to do so, then you should seek the help of rational people or take the matter to an Islamic court, if necessary.

Allah knows best.