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The question

What is the ruling on a man taking back his wife during her waiting period ('iddah) if the divorce was by mutual agreement, rendered irrevocable (bain), and neither of them intended it to be irrevocable?

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Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 20261 min readAlso available in العربية
The answer

If a man says to his wife: "You are divorced with a single, irreversible (ba'in) divorce," the divorce takes effect, but whether it takes effect as an irreversible divorce is a matter of dispute among jurists. The Hanafis and Malikis hold that it takes effect as an irreversible divorce, while the Shafi'is and Hanbalis hold that it takes effect as a revocable (raj'i) divorce. This is because a divorce does not become irreversible except for specific reasons such as khul' (divorce at the wife's instance with compensation) or a judge's ruling; otherwise, it is revocable even if the husband describes it as irreversible. This is what Sheikh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah preferred and attributed to the majority. As for this specific issue, a ruling cannot be made without knowing the reason why the judge wrote the aforementioned wording, as there might have been a khul' or a ruling of annulment.

Summary from Ftawy's records · added here

Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.

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Ftawy
Original fatwa ID
64695
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.
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Read the full answer on Ftawy