What is the Sharīʿah ruling concerning a man who wrote to his wife: "I, so-and-so, holder of ID number... residing in the city of..., affirm that my wife, so-and-so, is irrevocably divorced from me," and he signed, thumb-printed, and handed her the paper? And can he take her back?

The ruling on writing an explicit divorce is disputed: is it like an explicit verbal pronouncement or an indirect expression (kinayah) that requires intention? If a man writes a divorce but does not intend to effect it, rather intending only to provoke his wife, there is a difference of opinion among scholars regarding the validity of his divorce. However, if he writes it with the intention of effecting it, then a single divorce has occurred. His statement "an irrevocable divorce" is not considered by most scholars, and this is the preponderant opinion. If he has not divorced her more than once before this instance, he may take her back before her waiting period (iddah) expires. Acknowledgment of divorce is valid, even if it is in writing.