[Pronouncing Divorce by an Ignorant Person Who Does Not Intend It 1]

Mufti:

Alsayyed Muhammad b. Abdallah Awad Al-Muayyady

تاريخ النشر: December 25, 2025

Fatwa number: 18689

Number of views: 3

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[Pronouncing Divorce by an Ignorant Person Who Does Not Intend It 1]

Fatwa number: 18689

Question: An ignorant man frequently divorces his wife verbally, yet he does not want to divorce her; and she pays no heed to his words of divorce, knowing her husband’s habit of not intending divorce. Later, after receiving guidance and hearing admonitions, this man became alert to what he had been doing and regretted it. What is the legal ruling?

The answer—and with Allah is success: If the wife concurs with the husband regarding his lack of intention, then they are not to be opposed, and divorce does not occur if the husband neither intended nor willed divorce—due to the ḥadīth: “No deed [is valid] except with intention.”
Source : Min Thimār al-ʿIlm wa al-Ḥikmah vol.1