Did a divorce occur with the words: "If your brother does not apologize to me for a mistake he made before noon on such-and-such a day, then you are divorced," with the repetition of the phrase, and with the words: "If you go to so-and-so's house, then you are divorced," after the wife left the house and went to that house, and what is the number of divorces that occurred?

The fatwa (definition) we adhere to is that if a man makes his wife's divorce conditional upon an event, the divorce occurs when the condition is met, regardless of whether he intended the divorce to take place or merely intended a threat, emphasis, or prevention. This is the view of the majority of scholars. Sheikh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, however, believes that a conditional divorce made as a threat or for a similar purpose does not result in divorce. If a man makes his wife's divorce conditional upon an event and repeats the condition multiple times for emphasis, the divorce does not become multiple divorces due to the repetition of the condition. Accordingly, the fatwa we adhere to is that your wife has been divorced twice. You may take her back before her iddah (definition) (waiting period) expires, provided these two divorces are the only ones you have issued to her. We also advise you that the proper way to rectify a wife's behavior is through admonition; if that does not work, then by deserting her in bed; and if that does not work, then by a non-violent beating. Divorce should only be resorted to after all means of rectification have failed.