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Fatwa CenterHusband says he did not intend conditional divorce
Question
3 years ago in an argument my brother said leave the room I said no I want to sit but he said leave then my husband said if she leaves she is divorced then again my brother said leave or I would slap you. I got nervous and left with out keeping in my mind what my husband said (I did not know a lot about this divorce but at that time I was not a concern wife) Now after my last divorce I asked IRF alim about this he said it depends on his intention. Then I asked my husband but he said that he said word farigh (free, a allusive word) instead of word talaq and even if he said word talaq his intention was not to divorce me. But because scholars differ on conditional divorce so I decided to do istakhara but first I only read due Istakhara and called again IRF alim he said since he did not intend to divorce so it did not count then I pray 2 nafil istakara and called a mufti he said it would count a divorce no matter what his intention was and it is haram for me to live with him because I have 2 other divorces. But since a prominent alim IRF said it depends on his intention and also I felt it so bad even I knew he said word talaq but I still told mufti that he says he said word farigh and after consulting ulimas my husband thinks it did not count even he said word talaq, so he told mufti he said word farigh then mufti did not count it but then I told mufti that he said word talaq but mufti said even you are 100% sure husbands words are accepted. Other alim says it did not count 1, he did not intend to divorce when he said word talaq 2, if a concern person does it by mistake then it will not count either but I am worried because at the time I was not a concern wife. I am scared to live with him and wants to live with him but when I try to leave him I feel so pain and think may be it did not count because some prominent ulima do not count it. We are so in pain and broken. He swears to Allah if he said divorce he did intend to divorce and Allah knows his intentions.
Answer
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.
Moving between Muftis in the manner you have mentioned leads to much confusion and disorder. Our advice to you is to neglect everything these Muftis have said to you, and your husband should go to the one of them who he believes to be the most knowledgeable and most religious and seek a Fatwa from him, and he should clarify to him what really happened. Then, he should act in accordance with what this Mufti says to him.
If a husband utters an indirect pronouncement of divorce, it will depend on his intention. If he has not intended divorce, then his divorce is not effective.
On the other hand, if he explicitly utters the words of divorce in a conditional divorce, not intending divorce, then some scholars, such as Ibn Taymiyyah, are of the view that he is obliged to offer the same expiation for breaching an oath, and some of them are of the view that divorce takes place, which is the view of the majority of the scholars.
For information about indirect pronouncements of divorce, please refer to Fatwa 90531, and refer to Fatwa 99468 about the conditional divorce.
On the other hand, you should know that the Islamic rulings are not subject to Istikhaarah, and one cannot know a law by Istikhaarah, but rather, by knowledge of the ruling. For a lay person, this is done by asking scholars specialized in the field, as Allaah says (what means): {So ask the people of the message if you do not know.} [Quran 16:43]
Al-Qurtubi 
said: "A layman who does not derive the rulings from their principles in regard to any part of his religion that he does not know because of him not being qualified to do so, is obliged to go to the most knowledgeable person of his time and his country and ask him about his case; and then he should act upon his Fatwa, as Allaah says (what means): {So ask the people of the message if you do not know.} He must endeavor to find the most knowledgeable person of his time in such a way that most of the people agree on him." [End of quote]
Nonetheless, it is acceptable to perform the Istikhaarah prayer in regard to the scholar one wants to ask, whether one should ask him or instead go to ask another scholar, for example.
Allaah Knows best.
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