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The question

Does divorce occur if the husband utters it while in extreme pain and during a violent physical altercation between the spouses?

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Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 20262 min readAlso available in العربية
The answer

The divorce of a person under duress is not valid. What happened in the car is not considered duress because stopping the car was possible.

If you uttered the word of divorce while unconscious due to intense anger that made you lose your awareness, or if the anger was so severe that it compelled you to divorce, then the divorce is not valid. However, if you were conscious and able to prevent yourself from divorcing, and you divorced to rid yourself of your wife's harm, then the divorce is valid.

Sheikh Ibn Baz mentioned that divorce is not valid in cases of extreme anger and loss of awareness, citing the Prophet's (PBUH) saying: "There is no divorce and no manumission in ighlaq (state of duress, extreme anger, or unconsciousness)."

There are three states for an angry person: 1. First State: Loss of awareness. In this case, divorce is not valid by the consensus of scholars. 2. Second State: Intense anger without complete loss of awareness. In this case, divorce is not valid, according to the more correct opinion. 3. Third State: Ordinary, non-severe anger. In this case, divorce is valid by consensus.

If a man says to his wife, "You are divorced" (أنت طالق) or "I divorced you" (طلقتك) (in the past tense), this is an explicit and valid divorce. However, if he says "I divorce you" (أطلقك) (in the present tense), it is not explicit, as it might refer to a future divorce. But if he intended to effect the divorce immediately, then it is valid.

In summary: If you intended divorce with this phrasing and said it to get rid of your wife, then the divorce is valid. However, if it was anger that compelled you to utter the divorce, then it is not valid, and if you lost consciousness, it is not valid by even greater reason.

Summary from Ftawy's records · added here

Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.

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Ftawy
Original fatwa ID
7142
Added here
. This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
Text
Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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