Fatwa #144342 August 2006United Kingdom
A friend gave his second wife divorce with only first wife present. This man now says the divorce is not happened
Question
A friend gave his second wife divorce with only first wife present. This man now says the divorce is not happened
A friend has two wives. He said in front of his first wife only I divorce her meaning his second wife. No one else is around just the two people. This man now says the divorce is not happened. Has the divorce happened. What happens if he sleeps with the second wife. He lives in a different country from the second wife and only sees her once a year.for 3 weeks. It has been 8 monrhs now since he has said the words. He plans on going back to his country and saying nothing to the second wife. The man is returning to his country in a couple of months. Can you please give me an answer to my questions? Is he divorced? Is he allowed to sleep with his second wife?
Answer
If your friend said in the presence of the first wife, ‘I divorce her’ and referring to the second wife, then the divorce will be valid. The second wife will be divorced with one Talaaq-e-Raj’ee. That is a revocable divorce. Your friend could revoke the divorce within the period of iddah which is three menstrual cycles or three months if the second wife do not experience menses. The revoking could be done verbally by your friend simply saying ‘I take her back as a wife’. In that instance, she will still be his wife.
If your friend did not revoke the divorce within the iddah period as explained above, then the marriage will be terminated. If your friend wishes to reconcile with his second wife now, he will have to perform a fresh Nikah with his ‘second’ wife. Your friend’s statement ‘I divorce her’, will constitute one divorce only if he did not issue his second wife divorces previously. If he issued her with one divorce previously, then the above rulings will be the same as this will be the second divorce. If he issued her two divorces previously, then this will be the third divorce and now the marriage will be permanently broken as this will be regarded as Talaaq-e-Mughalladha.
and Allah Ta'ala Knows Best
Mufti Ebrahim Desai