How many times has a divorce occurred if a man divorced his wife in the year 1424 AH, then took her back through intercourse, then divorced her in the month of Rabīʿ al-Thānī in the year 1430 AH and did not take her back, then divorced her in the month of Jumādā al-Ūlá in the year 1430 AH?

The third pronouncement of divorce, if it occurs during the waiting period (iddah), is effective. The fact that the divorcee is in a revocable divorce state does not prevent the pronouncement of divorce from taking effect upon her. This is what we issue a fatwa on, and it entails that the wife has become irrevocably divorced with a major irrevocability (baynunah kubra). She is not lawful for the husband who divorced her unless she marries another husband, and he consummates the marriage with her, and then he divorces her or dies. Divorcing a woman during her iddah is considered an innovative divorce (talaq bid'i), and the one who performs it must repent to Allah.