Does adultery occur if a man divorces his wife verbally without informing her, then has marital relations with her before the divorce is communicated to her and witnessed?
We have previously clarified that merely attributing divorce to the wife constitutes its occurrence, and it is not a condition for her to be orally informed of it or for her to know about it. It is not correct to stipulate that her representative be orally informed of it, or that it be written down in the presence of witnesses. Based on this, the divorce occurred with your statement "she is divorced," and you confirmed it by informing the lawyer to proceed with the procedures, and by saying "okay." If the lawyer's statement was intended to stipulate the occurrence of the divorce, then it is not valid. If sexual intercourse occurred after the completion of that divorce and the expiry of the waiting period ('iddah), then it is forbidden. However, if you believed that cohabiting with her was permissible, you are not sinful. And if a child resulted from this cohabitation, their lineage is attributed to you due to the شبهة (doubt/ شبهة عقد النكاح - doubt in the validity of the marriage contract leading to a lenient ruling), and this last divorce does not occur.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · imported
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/129175
- Source platform
- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 129175
- Imported
- Translation status
- Source text, unreviewed
- Read the full ruling
- Read the full answer on Ftawy