Does a bid‘ah divorce (that which occurs during a period of purity in which the husband had intercourse with his wife) take effect in the case of a questioner who divorced his wife three times, the first and second divorces being bid‘ah divorces, and he wishes to take back his wife, who has not yet married, bearing in mind that Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah holds the view that a bid‘ah divorce does not take effect, whereas Sheikh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen differentiates between a question posed during the waiting period (‘iddah) (in which case he rules that it does not take effect) and a question posed after the expiration of the waiting period (in which case he rules that it does take effect)?

The Sunnah regarding divorce is that a man divorces his wife during a period of purity (tahr) in which he has not had intercourse with her. If he divorces her during a period of purity in which he has had intercourse with her, some scholars consider it an innovative divorce (talaq bid'i) that does not take effect, and this is the preferred view for fatwa on this website. However, if one considers an innovative divorce to be valid, whether through independent reasoning (ijtihad) or by following (taqleed) those who hold it to be valid, then the divorce is effective. A person who follows a particular ruling (muqallid) is not permitted to retract what he has followed in matters of rulings.

Therefore, if after the two innovative divorces, you followed those who say that innovative divorce does not take effect, then these two divorces are not effective, and you can take your wife back. However, if you considered them effective and treated your wife as divorced, or if you followed those who say they are effective, then your divorce is effective, and your wife is irrevocably separated from you (bainunah kubra).