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Does a divorce take effect if it occurs when the wife is in the last days of her menstrual period, and the ritual bath (ghusl) was performed immediately after the divorce document was written, on the same day and at the same time, knowing that the wife was unaware of the intention to divorce, and that one of the witnesses drinks alcohol?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Divorce during menstruation is effective according to the majority of scholars. It does not require witnesses, and it is a Bid'i (innovative, unlawful) and forbidden divorce. If the bleeding stops, divorce becomes permissible, even if the woman has not yet performed ghusl (ritual bath). Some scholars hold that a husband who divorced his wife during menstruation must take her back and then either divorce her again or keep her, while others consider this to be merely recommended. Some scholars, however, deem the divorce of a menstruating woman invalid. Therefore, whoever divorced his wife during menstruation must keep her until she becomes pure, then menstruates again, then becomes pure again, and only then may he divorce her if he wishes.

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

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