What is the Sharīʿah's ruling on a divorce in which the husband falsely claimed in an American civil court that he divorced his wife to obtain residency papers, then the marital relationship between them continued, then the husband obtained a minor irrevocable divorce (ṭalāq al-bāʾin al-ṣughrā) from a Sharīʿah court based on the date of the civil divorce, while the wife was still living with him as his wife? And what is the ruling on this wife, and what is the validity of her divorce?

If the husband did not utter the divorce, nor did he intend it, but wrote it down in order to obtain papers for marriage to another woman, then it is not effective. The document the husband obtained does not mean that the wife is no longer under his marital bond. She must return to the marital home and obey her husband in what is right. Marriage is a solemn covenant and must not be treated as a plaything. One must hasten to consult scholars regarding what a Muslim needs concerning the rulings of the Sharia, and refer to the Sharia court or Islamic centers in case of dispute. Residing in lands of disbelief entails many corruptions.