Does repeating the phrase "By divorce, I will bring a maid" three times—without fulfilling this promise—count as three divorces?
A Muslim should not jeopardize his marital relationship. Divorce takes effect whether it is uttered seriously or in jest. What you said constitutes a conditional divorce, which, according to the majority of scholars, takes effect if the condition is not met—in this case, bringing the maid. Since you did not specify a timeframe for this, the divorce does not take effect until there is despair of the condition being fulfilled. As for repeating the divorce, it depends on the intention of the one uttering it: if he intended one or two pronouncements, then that is what counts; otherwise, it counts as the number of times he uttered it. We advise referring such matters to the courts.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/62247
Where this answer came from
- Source platform
- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 62247
- 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.
- Read the full ruling
- Read the full answer on Ftawy