Search In Fatwa

He married her without her Wali's consent, then gave her three divorces in the present tense

Question

I married a girl in secret without her parent's consent. Later after some months we has an argument , I gave her divorce three times by saying I divorce you , I divorce you , I divorce you.. It is important to tell she was menstruating at that time. I swear I had no intentions to leave her. I was of the fact that this is the way to give Talaq. I called her again she was crying I told her that I have made the mistake but I have done it in anger & I haven’t done it intentionally. I told her that we can ruju as this is the first time I have given you Talaq. She felt little better, I said to her that I will ask someone about it anyway. Then later when I started looking on internet I found that majority of the scholars believe that this is irrevocable. I found Ahl-e-Hadith saying that this is counted as one. Now I thought for a while that I didn’t follow any particular sect I can go with Ahl-e-Hadith , but I was not convinced because I felt like this will mean that I am following desires and I will do something that is Haraam because that wasn't the view of Majority scholars. So I started researching different sites, asking scholars, I came to know that Majority thinks that this is irrevocable. At this point I also found that Nikkah without wali is also considered void by majority of scholars. But when I found that Majority also believes that such nikkah is void I thought that I should write to you and ask what should I do with this now. I repent on whatever happened. I don’t want to leave her because I can marry someone but it would be a problem for her, because she can’t tell anyone that she is married otherwise her family would kill her. I wanted to know if this nikkah is void ,, can we remarry again with a proper nikah later when her parents are convinced? And if we can remarry do I have to issue talaq again before the right Nikkah? The Nikkah wasn’t registered anywhere and was kept in full secret & still nobody knows about it & we will not be able to disclose.

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and messenger.

Marriage without the Wali (matrimonial guardian) is a void marriage according to the view of the majority of the scholars as underlined in Fatwa 92758, but the divorce takes effect in this marriage as there is a difference of opinion about its validity. In this case, the divorce takes effect as an irrevocable divorce in the sense that the husband cannot take back his wife (exept with a new contract fulfilling all the conditions of a valid marriage contract). For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 264502.

However, if you have uttered divorce in the present tense form [i.e. with the intention of issuing it in the future] and you did not intend to initiate divorce, then divorce did not take place, because divorce in the present tense is considered a figurative expression of divorce, so the divorce is not effective by it without intention. For more information, please refer to Fatwa 198269.

On the other hand, if you intended one divorce, as it was understood from your other question, then the divorce has taken effect only one time, which is one irrevocable divorce. Hence, you may conduct a new marriage contract with that woman with the consent of her guardian and with the presence of two witnesses. In case her guardian refuses to marry her off without a valid reason, then she may refer the matter to an Islamic judge to marry her off or order her guardian to marry her off.

Finally, you should know that documenting the marriage contract and registering it with the official authorities has become an urgent need in our time, and if one does not do so, it may lead to great disadvantages and violation of great Islamic rights.

Allaah Knows best.

Related Fatwa