Can a friend suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder concerning divorce, and whom the muftis have informed that his allusive divorce did not occur, adopt the fatwa of Ibn Taymiyyah regarding the non-occurrence of triple divorce so that he may find peace, especially since his suffering has become unbearable?

Divorce does not take effect with doubt, and the divorce of one afflicted by obsessive whispers (waswas) is not enforceable if it is due to the whispers and not by choice. The one afflicted by waswas must disregard these whispers.

If the one afflicted by waswas pronounces divorce by choice, then he must act according to the fatwa of the scholars. It is permissible for him to act according to the saying of Ibn Taymiyyah, which states that repeated pronouncements of divorce before reconciliation (irtija') are counted as a single divorce.

It is permissible for the one afflicted by waswas to act according to the easiest and most lenient opinions for him. A man resorting to divorce by choice to rid himself of waswas is a wrong approach. The remedy for waswas is to seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Shaytan.