Please keep this confidentail and give me an urgent reply if a husband has given a divorce to his wife directly with three words of talaq " Talaq, Talaq, Talaq (upon thrice)" on a stamp paper with witnesses and lawyer signatures and it is also written that it is an irrevocable divorce then in this case can the wife remarry her husband without hilala. The iddat period is over. Is it counted one divorce or three divorces?

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.

The scholars differed in opinion about divorce with the verbal noun like saying, ''You are a divorcee'' whether it is a clear statement of divorce or a metaphor of divorce. The majority of the scholars are of the view that it is a clear statement of divorce and it does not require an intention.

They also differed about divorce with three divorces in one session - whether it is one divorce or three divorces. The majority of the scholars are of the view that divorce takes place three times. In this case, the wife is divorced an irrevocable divorce and she will not be lawful to her husband unless she marries another man. For more benefit, please refer to Fatwas 82541 and 82330.

Of course the wife is irrevocably divorced if the husband did not intend by the second and the third divorce to confirm the first divorce, because if he only intended to confirm the first divorce then it is considered as one divorce. In this case the husband is permitted to take back his wife as long as she is in her waiting period, but if her waiting period has expired, he is not permitted to take her back except with a new marriage contract.

However, it appears to us that the term, ''irrevocable divorce'' is an indication which negates the probability that he only intended to confirm the first divorce; for more information on what an irrevocable divorce is, please refer to Fatwa 83905. Nonetheless, you should know that writing the word divorce without uttering it is a metaphor of divorce so divorce does not take place unless the husband intended it.

Finally, it is more appropriate in such matters to take the case to an Islamic court or an institution which serves as such in non-Muslim countries, like Islamic centres, so that the person seeking the Fatwa will expound his issue orally and explain the circumstances related to it. 

Allaah Knows best.