Is a divorce valid if the husband says to his wife via a text message, "We are divorced," while he is in a state of anger?
Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 2026
Writing an explicit divorce statement in mobile messages is treated like an implicit statement (kinayah); for the divorce to take effect, the husband's intention is required. Doubt concerning the intention of divorce in an implicit statement is disregarded, because the original state is the continuation of the marriage. Al-Majd Ibn Taymiyyah said: "If there is doubt about the divorce or its condition, it is built upon the certainty of the marriage." So, as long as the husband is doubtful about his intention regarding what he wrote in the message, his divorce has not occurred, and nothing is binding upon him because of it.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/176349
Where this answer came from
- Source platform
- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 176349
- Added here
- . This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
- Text
- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
- Read the full ruling
- Read the full answer on Ftawy