How can one deal with divorce cases resulting from coercion or hidden impediments due to sorcery or demonic possession, and can Quranic sessions be relied upon to uncover and nullify these causes, especially if there was no prior intention of divorce?
Divorce occurs when the husband is aware of what he is saying and is acting voluntarily, not under coercion. However, if he is overcome by a loss of faculties, his divorce does not occur. The judge or mufti relies on the husband's admission or evidence for divorce. If the husband claims that he uttered the divorce without being aware of it due to extreme anger or magic, his statement is accepted if there are indications supporting it. Otherwise, the general rule is that the divorce is valid. The point is that the accidental utterance of divorce without intent prevents its occurrence according to the majority of scholars. If an angry husband knows that his tongue uttered divorce unintentionally, he is permitted to remain in his marriage. As for Sheikh Muhammad Mukhtar Al-Shinqiti, he believes that caution should be exercised in matters of divorce, and the claim of anger should not be accepted unless reliable individuals testify that the husband reaches a state where he is unaware of what he says and does. One should not rush to attribute problems to magic, but rather examine the apparent causes and strive to treat them. If there is evidence of magic, its treatment is easy by adhering to prescribed remembrances (adhkar) and legal incantations (ruqya shar'iyya).
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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