Fatwa #1833018 October 2009United Kingdom
If a person was to give a divorce to his wife i.e. the first of the three divorces and was to link this with a court divorce in England, and say "I am giving my wife first islamic...
Question
Please could you answer the following question to do with divorce as it is quite dificult and technical and would require clear help:
If a person was to give a divorce to his wife i.e. the first of the three divorces and was to link this with a court divorce in England, and say "I am giving my wife first islamic divorce which is linked with the court divorce no matter how long the courts take", and do this with witnesses
Now as the court divorces in England can take about 9 months, but during the Iddat period he reclaims his wife. Now as the court divorce is processed after 9 months can this be considered to be just the first divorce of three as he had said the "court divorce is to be considered only as the first divorce of 3" or has the Nikah now terminated due to the length of time the court divorce has taken even though he reclaimed his wife within the iddat period?
Answer
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Assalaamu `alaykum waRahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
“I am divorcing my wife first Islamic divorce which is linked with the court divorce no matter how long the courts take”
If our understanding is correct, there are three issues to your query;
1.The Talaaq you had given was conditional with a civil divorce. When the civil divorce takes place, then one Talaaq Raji (revocable divorce) would take place.
2. There is no Iddat for your wife, since the Talaaq given was conditional.
3. Since you had made your Talaaq conditional and in suspense, once the Talaaq takes place you should take her back in her Iddat in order to maintain your Nikah.
إذا طلق الرجل امرأته تطليقةً رجعيةً أو تطليقتين فله أن يراجعها في عدتها، رضيت بذلك أو لم ترض.
(فتح القدير ،مكتبه رشيديه، ص 14،ج4 )
And Allah knows best
Wassalaamu `alaykum
Ml. Luqman Hansrot,
Student Darul Iftaa
Checked and Approved by:
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Darul Iftaa