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Does the fact that one of the two witnesses to the second marriage contract does not pray invalidate the contract, and consider the wife divorced only twice? And if the contract is invalid, does she have to observe an 'iddah?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Abandoning prayer is a major sin, but the majority of scholars hold that one who abandons it without denying its obligation is a transgressor (fasiq) who does not leave the fold of Islam. After the third divorce has occurred, it is impermissible to question the validity of the marriage contract on the pretext of the guardian's transgression, for the majority of jurists have validated the guardianship of a transgressor and deemed the divorce valid in such a marriage. And whoever believed in the validity of the marriage before the divorce is not permitted to believe in its invalidity afterward, because this contradicts the consensus of Muslims. Therefore, the third divorce has occurred, and the woman is irrevocably separated from her husband with a major separation (baynunah kubra), and she must observe the waiting period ('iddah), even if the marriage were deemed invalid.

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

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