Validity of a divorce given ignorantly
5-8-2009 | IslamWeb
Question:
alsalamu allaikum! my question is about divorce. If a man says to his wife" your are divorced" (verbally) one or two times out of anger (not knowing that divorce can be done verbally), is it still counted as a divorce if he honestly does not know? And if it's counted as a divorce, saying it twice at the same time, is that considered to be as verbal divorce one or two time verbal divorce? If the couple still want to be with eachother, and are willing to work out their differences, and there were no witnesses to their verbal divorce, can they still be with eachother? Please explain to me what to do in this case and how do we get back to eachother. P.S. My husband promissed to god that he never meant to divorce me and he still wants to be with me and he never meant to let go of me. Please respond very soon. Thank you.
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, is His Slave and Messenger.
Scholars divided divorce given in anger into three categories:
1) The man experiences initial signs of anger in a way that does not make him lose his mind and he knows what he is saying and intending. There is no disagreement that such a divorce takes place without any difference of opinion.
2) The man is eaten with anger, so he does not know what he is saying. Divorce of that man does not take place. There must not be any disagreement on this ruling because anger covered the mind which is a condition for bearing religious obligations and this man is completely like the mad person.
3) The man who is in a middle course. He does not become like a mad man, but due to the extreme anger, he is in a state in which he cannot control what he says. If he is asked, "Have you divorced your wife?" He would say, "Yes, but I could not stop myself from uttering the word of divorce due to the flame of anger." The scholars have two opinions about this, and the evidence proves that his words are of no effect. It was narrated on the authority of ‘Aa’ishah 
that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: "Divorce and manumission do not count in case of Ighlaaq.” [Abu Daawood and Ibn Maajah] Ighlaaq means that the mind becomes prevented from thinking due to anger or any other reason. For further information, refer to Fatwa 121374.
However, the husband is more aware of the state of his anger and he is responsible for that before Allaah The Almighty. Besides, the husband's ignorance of divorce does not prevent it from taking place as we previously clarified in Fatwa 92352.
On the other hand, uttering divorce twice in one wording or in one session counts as two divorces – according to the majority of scholars – unless the husband only meant to confirm the first divorce by the second one. For further information, see Fatwa 86140.
As for having witnesses to divorce, the preponderant opinion of the scholars is that it is recommended. For further information, see Fatwa 119707.
Supposing that divorce has taken place, it would be permissible for the husband to take his wife back without a new marriage contract if he did not use up the three times of divorce. In case her ‘Iddah (waiting period) has expired, he could not take her back except with a new contract. For further information, see Fatwa 82541.
Finally, you should know that explicit divorce takes place even if the husband does not intend divorce. Therefore, the spouses should abstain from disputes as much as they can and the husband should beware of unnecessary usage of the words of divorce.
Allaah Knows best.