Back to search

Does a divorce count as three, one, or not at all if a man divorces his wife with three pronouncements in a single utterance, while making the divorce conditional on an event that has occurred, knowing that the wife is unaware of it?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The wife's knowledge of the conditional divorce or her return is not a condition for the divorce to take effect. If the husband made his wife's triple divorce conditional upon an event, and the condition is fulfilled, a triple divorce occurs according to the majority of scholars, and she becomes unlawful for him until she marries another husband. However, Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah holds that if he did not intend divorce, he owes an expiation for a broken oath; and if he did intend it, then a single divorce takes place, and he can take her back before her waiting period expires, provided this divorce does not complete three divorces.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

Read the full answer on Ftawy