Divorce given in anger

11-3-2000 | IslamWeb

Question:

I would like to know if a divorce given in anger is counted or not?

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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.

A man should control himself and avoid getting angry, especially with his wife because marital life should be based on patience, clemency, forgiveness and tolerance between spouses. In the state of being angry, one should abide by the Prophet's guidance, such as keeping the tongue from all bad sayings, sitting down if one is standing, making Wudhoo' (ritual ablution) and seeking Allaah's refuge from Satan, the outcast. One also should be habituated to these things. As for divorce in the state of anger, then this is in fact the most common case of divorce being pronounced and anger could never be considered a factor that would impede the occurrence of divorce. If we were to state that the divorce of an angry man would not take effect, then rarely would we observe an occurrence of divorce at all!

Muslim scholars have agreed that the divorce of an angry man does not take effect in only one condition, and this is when his anger reaches a level where he becomes unaware and loses his mind and does not realize what is going on. They compare this condition to that of an insane or compelled person. In Hadeeth, the Prophet Muhammad said: “There is neither divorce nor emancipation during enclosure (i.e. in case of coercion).” In any case, you should refer to a Sharee'ah court in your country if there is any. Otherwise ask a reliable Muslim scholar.

Allaah Knows best.