Conditional Divorce

19-2-2020 | IslamWeb

Question:

The husband says if wife talks to a specific person she is not his wife, but it was out of anger, now he wants take that back, and wife to talk to that persons, so in this case what can be done?

---

Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

The husband’s statement: “You are not my wife,” is a metaphor of divorce that does not make divorce effective unless the husband intended to issue a divorce. So, if he intended to issue a divorce by saying: “You are not my wife if you talk to so-and-so”, it counts as a conditional divorce that takes effect once the wife talks to that person that he named in his statement.

This divorce cannot be withdrawn or nullified according to the view of the majority of the scholars.

As for making such a statement out of anger, if it were made in a state of mild anger wherein he was still aware of what he was saying, then his statement is binding and cannot be withdrawn according to the opinion of the majority of the scholars.

However, if his anger was extreme to such an extent that caused him to lose his mind and become unaware of what he was saying or doing, then, in this case, he is not bound by the statement he uttered which made divorce conditional.

For more benefit on conditional divorce, please refer to Fatwa 373048, 370447, 355693, 352696, and 328318.

Allah knows best.