English
Mujahid narrated: I was with Ibn Abbas when a man came to him and said he had divorced his wife thrice. He remained silent until I thought he would return her to him, then said, “One of you goes and commits folly, then says, ‘O Ibn Abbas, O Ibn Abbas!’ Allah said, ‘And whoever fears Allah, He will make for him a way out.’ You did not fear Allah, so I find no way out for you. You disobeyed your Lord, and your wife is fully divorced from you.” Narrated by Abu Dawud with a sound chain.
In Ibn Abi Shaybah and Ad-Daraqutni’s narration from Ibn Umar: I said, “O Messenger of Allah, what if I divorced her thrice?” He said, “Then you have disobeyed your Lord, and your wife is fully divorced from you.”
At-Tahawi narrated from Malik ibn al-Harith: A man came to Ibn Abbas and said, “My uncle divorced his wife thrice.” He said, “Your uncle disobeyed Allah, sinned, and followed Satan, so no way out was made for him.”
An-Nasa’i narrated from Mahmoud ibn Labid: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was informed of a man who divorced his wife three times at once. He stood angrily and said, “Is the Book of Allah being played with while I am among you?” A man stood and said, “O Messenger of Allah, shall I not kill him?”
In Malik’s narration: A man said to Abdullah ibn Abbas, “I divorced my wife a hundred times. What do you think I should do?” Ibn Abbas said, “She is divorced from you by three, and the ninety-seven you took as mockery of Allah’s verses.”
Possible references (unverified, pending editorial review)
- Candidate: Sunan Abi Dawud 2197 (unverified) 97% confidence
Confidence and text similarity are not editorial verification.
Commentary and footnotes (2)
Note 1
(1) The statement: “You disobeyed your Lord, and your wife is fully divorced from you”: For Hanafis, innovated divorce violates the two Sunnah forms: pronouncing three divorces in one statement or separately in one clean period, two divorces similarly, one divorce during menstruation, in a clean period with prior intercourse, or after intercourse in the following menstruation. If done, the divorce occurs, and he sins. Its occurrence, number, and sinfulness are disputed. The Imamiyyah say three in one statement or during menstruation do not occur. Tawus, Muhammad ibn Ishaq, Al-Hajjaj ibn Artat, An-Nakha‘i, Ibn Muqatil, and Az-Zahiriyyah say three together count as one. The majority of Successors and later scholars, including Al-Awza‘i, An-Nakha‘i, Ath-Thawri, Abu Hanifah and his companions, Malik and his companions, Ash-Shafi‘i and his companions, Ahmad and his companions, Ishaq, Abu Thawr, Abu Ubayd, and others, say three divorces occur, but he sins. Those who differ are considered anomalous, opposing the Sunnah people. Ash-Shafi‘i disregards the number, requiring only a clean period without intercourse. If three or two are pronounced, it is not innovated. Malik recognizes only one divorce as Sunnah and dislikes three, together or separate. Hanafis dislike more than one in a clean period, but not if separate across clean periods. On whether three in one statement is sinful, Ash-Shafi‘i says all divorce is permissible as a legislated act, incompatible with prohibition, unlike divorce during menstruation, where the prohibition is extending the waiting period, not the divorce. For us, innovated divorce occurs and is sinful, as its default is prohibition for severing marriage, which holds religious and worldly benefits. Permissibility is for need of escape. No need exists for combining three, but separate across clean periods is valid per evidence, as the need persists. Its permissibility as bondage removal does not negate prohibition for losing religious and worldly benefits. This was discussed under “The most hated of lawful things to Allah is divorce”. Our evidence is “Divorce is twice…” to “And if he has divorced her…”, implying no lawful divorce except thus, as it restricts the category. No divorce is legislated as three at once. One might assume it does not occur, per the Imamiyyah, but since its illegitimacy is for external reasons (forfeiting its legislated purpose) and regret allows mitigation, it may harm himself or not. Further evidence includes Ibn Abbas’s statement to one who divorced thrice, “You disobeyed your Lord,” Abdur-Razzaq’s narration from Ubadah ibn as-Samit, “She is fully divorced by three in disobedience,” At-Tahawi’s from Malik ibn al-Harith, and An-Nasa’i’s from Mahmoud ibn Labid, as in Al-Marqah, Umdat al-Qari, and Hidayah (summarized).
Note 1
تین طلاق سے تو مطلقہ ہوگئی اور (بقیہ) 97 سے تو نے اللہ تعالیٰ کی آیت (یعنی احکام) کا مذاق اڑایا ہے۔ ف: واضح ہو کہ تابعین میں جمہور علماء اور بعد میں آنے والے فقہاء جیسے امام اوزاعی، امام نخعی، امام ثوری، امام ابوحنیفہ اور آپ کے اصحاب امام احمد اور آپ کے اصحاب امام اسحاق، امام ابوثور اور امام ابوعبید اور دیگر فقہاء اس بات پر متفق ہیں کہ جس کسی نے اپنی بیوی کو تین طلاق ایک ہی وقت میں دیدے تو تین طلاق واقع ہوجائیں گے۔ (مرقات 12)۔