Writing out three talaaqs in the state of duress

· 16 Jumada I 1445 AH1 min readEnglish

Question

Mufti Saheb, I was forced by my family to divorce my wife by writing on a page and signing that I am giving her three talaaqs. My family threatened to beat me up if I did not comply. Hence, I was forced to write the following: “I, so and so, am giving my wife three talaaqs.” Are the three talaaqs which I wrote valid or is my wife still in my nikaah? I did not verbally issue the three talaaqs.

Answer

If you did not verbally issue the three talaaqs, but you wrote out the three talaaqs in the state of duress while being threatened to be beaten, then the three talaaqs written in this state are not valid. Hence, your wife is still in your nikaah.

And Allah Ta'ala (الله تعالى) knows best.

References (Arabic / Urdu sources)

فلو أكره على أن يكتب طلاق امرأته فكتب لا تطلق (الدر المختار ٣/٣٢٦)

رجل أكره بالضرب والحبس على أن يكتب طلاق امرأته فلانة بنت فلان بن فلان فكتب امرأته فلانة بنت فلان بن فلان طالق لا تطلق امرأته كذا في فتاوى قاضي خان (الفتاوى الهندية ١/٣٧٩)

رجل أكره بالضرب والحبس على أن يكتب طلاق امرأته فكتب فلانة بنت فلانة امرأته طالق وفي الحاوي: ولم يعبّر بلسانه، لا تطلّق (الفتاوى التاتارخانية ٣/٣٨٠)

Answered by
Mufti Zakaria Makada
Checked & approved by
Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)
Questions about this ruling, answered only from the archive with sources.

Where scholars differ, it’s safer to take the more cautious view.

Fatawa SA is an independent, read-only index of fatawa already published by Mufti Online — Madrasah Ta'leemuddeen. It is not a fatwa service. For your own situation, please ask a Mufti. Report an issue

For corrections or mistakes, please email us at fatawasa786@gmail.com.

People also ask

Do three talaqs in one sitting count as three?

“The law of shariah is that once the husband issues three divorces, the nikaah totally terminates and there is no way for the husband to reconcile. Both husband and wife become haraam for each other.”

Mufti Online · 211 fatawa from 7 Darul Iftas on this

What the Darul Iftas say