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Is the wife considered to be irrevocably divorced by three pronouncements in the aforementioned situation, or has only one or two pronouncements of divorce occurred, taking into account the repetition of divorce pronouncements with the intention of not taking her back, engaging in sexual intercourse after reconciliation without witnesses, and the husband uttering words from which the wife understands his desire for separation without explicitly pronouncing divorce?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

It appears that you had issued at least three divorces to your wife before this last occasion, making your wife irrevocably divorced from you with a major separation (baynunah kubra).

Even if scholars have issued a fatwa to you that only two divorces occurred, your statements to your wife: "It is impossible for me to live with you" and "It is better for you to look for a husband" are ambiguous divorce expressions (kinayat) if you intended divorce by them. This is based on the statement of Al-Hajawi Al-Hanbali, who, when giving examples of explicit ambiguous expressions, said: "Marry whomever you wish, you are lawful to other husbands, I have no way over you, and I have no authority over you."

Therefore, if you intended divorce with these phrases, it has occurred. This divorce would complete the three divorces, and your wife would be irrevocably separated from you with a major separation (baynunah kubra). She would not be lawful for you until she marries another man willingly, he consummates the marriage with her, and then he divorces her or dies, and her waiting period (iddah) expires. It is preferable to present these matters to a Sharia court or trusted scholars.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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