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Fatwa CenterTriple divorce in present tense
Question
Assalaamu alaykum. May Allaah's blessing be on you, and may Allaah reward you for everything that you are doing. Shaykh, my question is a little difficult. I said to my wife, "I divorce you, I divorce you, and I divorce you," in anger over the phone. It was not planned or anything. I called her and we were fighting about something, and I said, "I will divorce you if you call next time," she was angry and she said, "Do it now, why wait," and I said those words. After immediately hanging up, I realized what I had done after 30 seconds. I never wanted that, it was just anger, and I could not control myself. I looked into it, and I came to know that there are two opinions regarding that. I also know that the majority of the scholars say that it is irrevocable, while some say that it only counts as one divorce. I am not able to decide what I should follow. Some also say that it is not valid in anger, some say this. The thing is, it has been six months, and I am not able to make up my mind. I do not want to go in this argument about which one I should follow. My question is: my whole life is at stake; Allaah, The Exalted, sent his sharia so that we can live a better life. I have been afflicted, just because of those 30 seconds, I have lost the power to make decisions, I cannot even distinguish between the reality and confusions. I have become afflicted with depression. I cannot recall what happened exactly anymore. I cannot pray, I cannot read or listen to Islamic lectures as I have devolped a fear in my heart that I am not able to overcome. I just want one thing, to know, I did make a mistake, I accept that, I did a wrong, I never wanted that. I asked for His forgiveness, I do not want to know about anything else, I have just one question. Allaah, The Exalted, says in the Quran that he forgives mistakes if you repent. Can I ask for forgiveness and live my life with my wife? Can I regard it as a mistake and move on while believing that He has forgiven me? I ask Allaah, The Exalted, in front of you to forgive me; can I move on? I want to know about forgiveness in the light of the sharia.
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 ʻalayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
Firstly, you should know that if you said to your wife, “I divorce you” (in the present tense), then the divorce does not take place unless you intended to divorce her on the spot while using the present tense. The apparent indication of your question suggests that this was your intention. Please refer to fatwa 269398.
The triple divorce is a form of innovative divorce (a bid’i divorce that does not conform to the Sunnah of the Prophet 
). Al-Fawaakih Al-Dawaani ʻala Risaalat by Ibn Abu Zayd Al-Qayrawaani Al-Maaliki reads, “The triple divorce (divorce which is pronounced thrice in one sitting) is a religious innovation. If the husband uttered the words of divorce thrice by saying, 'You are divorced, you are divorced; you are divorced,' or 'divorced; divorced; divorced,' without intending to confirm the first divorce with the second and third divorce, then this is the same like triple divorce.” Hence, it is incumbent on the husband to repent to Allaah of such an action.
Allaah, The Exalted, accepts the repentance of the repentant and forgives him; however, whether the repentant will be forgiven or not has nothing to do with whether the divorce takes place or not.
The scholars held different opinions regarding whether the triple divorce counts as one or three occurrences of divorce. The majority of the scholars held that it counts as three occurrences of divorce unless the husband intended the second and third utterances to be a mere confirmation of the first; in this case, it counts as one occurrence of divorce. Ibn Taymiyyah 
held that it counts as one. The scholarly view adopted at Islamweb is that of the majority of the scholars. Please, refer to fataawa 155573 and 94110.
If the husband was in a state of extreme anger, like in your case (so furious that he no longer has control over his mind and is no longer aware of his actions and words), then the scholars held different views as to whether divorce issued in such a state takes effect or not. We have previously addressed this point in fatwa 83467. The adopted view at Islamweb is that the divorce uttered by a husband in a state of intense anger takes effect unless he was unaware of his words.
The scholars held different views regarding such matters; it is enough for you to consult a reliable scholar whose righteousness and knowledge you trust and to follow his fatwa. Do not consult many scholars (on one single issue) as this leads to confusion.
Allaah knows best.
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