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Fatwa CenterIssuing civil divorce in non-Muslim country
Question
Assalaamu alaykum. A friend of mine has the following question. He married according to Islam with a valid marriage, but he lives in a non-Muslim country and also went to the goverment to register the marriage. After doing this and paying 400 euros to the goverment, the problems began. They decided to end the official marriage because of the problems that they cause them because they are Muslims. My friend did not know that signing these papers is a divorce because he thought that he was only divorcing for the law and that this would not effect his marriage, but later, after signing these papers, they saw a fatwa on Islamweb and IslamQA that states that they are divorced. He took his wife back in her 'Iddah (waiting period), and they where very emotional about the divorce. They left everything behind and are happily married. The brother has the following questions about his marriage:
1) The brother received a letter from different companies after taking back his wife in her 'Iddah. In some of the letters, they ask him whether he is married, and he answerd the questions in the negative, but the brother means the official marriage, not the real one. He also felt that this was a indirect question, and his intention is not divorce, so there is no divorce. He signed the papers and sent them to the companies. The brother is an honest person and his work is halal and he abides by the law (as long as it does not go against Islam), but the Muslim people suffer a lot in these countries, and they insult and attack us a lot, not all of them, but most people.
2) When somebody asks the brother if he is married, he answers in the positive, but what if he were to say 'no', what would the ruling be? Note that his intention by saying no would not be to mean a divorce, but he would intend that he is not married according to the non-Muslim's law. May Allaah bless you.
Answer
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, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
Firstly, you stated that this man signed the government papers without knowing that signing these papers is a divorce. If this is the case, then divorce did not take place because the husband did not intend to divorce, which is a fundamental pillar of divorce. An-Nawawi 
while listing the pillars of divorce, said, "The husband's intention to divorce: he must have the intention of issuing a divorce when pronouncing the words of divorce. It is not sufficient to intend uttering the words of divorce without intending the meaning of divorce." [Rawdhat At-Taalibeen]
It should be noted that the Muslim must not sign any paper without first knowing its content in order to avoid potential regret.
Moreover, divorce does not take place if he answers 'No' when someone asks him whether he is married or not, even if he intends to issue a divorce with this negation. The Shaafi‘i scholar Zakariyya Al-Ansaari said, "If a married man is asked whether he has a wife or not and he answers 'no', divorce does not take place because it is a plain lie (since he does have a wife)."
It is allowable to resort to Tawriyah (indirect speech or deliberate ambiguity, namely, to say something which has more than one meaning and intending a meaning different from what the listener is likely to understand) in case of a valid need, and it is disliked when done for no need. An-Nawawi said:
"The scholars said, 'If it is needed to serve some legitimate benefit that outweighs the concern of misleading the person to whom you are speaking, or it is needed for a reason that cannot be achieved without lying, then there is nothing wrong with using deliberate ambiguity as an acceptable alternative. However, if there is no interest to be served and no need, then it is disliked, yet it is not impermissible unless it leads to taking something wrongfully or depriving someone of their rights, then it is prohibited in that case. This is the guideline in this matter.'" [Al-Athkaar]
Allah knows best.
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