[Ruling on One Who Divorced While Apparently Sane, Then His Insanity Appeared]

Mufti:

Alsayyed Muhammad b. Abdallah Awad Al-Muayyady

تاريخ النشر: December 25, 2025

Fatwa number: 18712

Number of views: 5

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[Ruling on One Who Divorced While Apparently Sane, Then His Insanity Appeared]

Fatwa number: 18712

Question: A man divorced his wife and, outwardly, he appeared free of insanity; then afterward insanity appeared in him. We feared that the divorce may have occurred at the onset of the illness, and doubt arose for us concerning the occurrence of the divorce. What is the ruling?

Answer: The necessary course when doubting in such a case is to revert to the default state. The default concerning the man mentioned is soundness; thus, he is ruled sound of illness and the divorce valid. This contrasts with the case where the man is usually insane and only rarely regains his senses. If he pronounces divorce and it is not known whether he pronounced it in a lucid interval or in a state of insanity, then the necessary course is to revert to the default—namely, insanity.
The scholars of the madhhab have analogous discussions in purity and impurity, fasting and breaking the fast, and many other matters wherein they return judgment to the default.
Source : Min Thimār al-ʿIlm wa al-Ḥikmah vol.1