Does the divorce that occurred three times in separate instances due to the husband's anger at his mother-in-law's words take effect, especially since the husband regretted it and did not intend divorce, and knowing that the sheikh whom the wife consulted issued a fatwa that it did not take effect because intercourse had occurred the day before the divorce?

One must be cautious with divorce pronouncements, as divorce was not legislated for emotional relief or revenge, but rather out of necessity to dissolve the marriage covenant. The permissible divorce is when a woman is pregnant or in a state of purity (tahir) during which intercourse has not occurred. As for divorcing her during a state of purity in which intercourse has occurred, this is an innovated divorce (talaq bid'i). The majority of scholars hold that both innovated divorce and consecutive divorces during the waiting period (iddah) are valid. Some scholars, including Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and his student Ibn al-Qayyim, are of the view that divorcing a woman during a state of purity in which intercourse has occurred does not count as a divorce. This is the view preferred by the Permanent Committee and Shaykh Ibn Baz, who cite the verse: "O Prophet, when you divorce women, divorce them for [the commencement of] their waiting period" (Quran 65:1). This means divorcing them while they are pure and without having had intercourse, or while they are pregnant. Accordingly, this type of divorce does not take effect.