In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Assalaamu `alaykum waRahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
According to Shariah, there are three types of divorces:
- Talaaq e Rajie (revocable divorce)
- Talaaq e Baain (irrevocable divorce)
- Talaaq e Mughalazah (permanently irrevocable divorce)
TALAAQ E RAJIE
Talaaq e Rajie is a type of divorce wherein the husband divorces his wife in express and explicit terms. For example he says “I divorce you”, or “You are divorced”. It is important to mention that if the husband unintentionally uttered these express words of Talaaq, the divorce still take effect.
Once the husband utters such types of words, the wife becomes divorced and she has to sit in Iddah (waiting period) for three menstrual cycles if she experiences menses or three months if she does not experience menses or child birth if she has conceived.
If the husband wishes to revoke his divorce, he may do so during the Iddah period. The husband may revoke his divorce by verbally taking her back for example he says to her, “I take you back” etc. or by being physical with her for example kissing her or having intercourse with her.
If the husband does not revoke the divorce as explained above during the Iddah period, the divorce becomes an irrevocable divorce. Therefore, if he wishes to take her back (after the Iddah period has lapsed), he can only do so after renewing the Nikah.
TALAAQ E BAAIN
Talaaq e Baain is an irrevocable divorce where the husband uses ambiguous words or phrases to divorce his wife. For example the husband tells his wife “Pack your bags and get out” or “You are no more my wife” or “Go to your father’s house”. Talaaq e Baain will only take effect if the husband utters these or similar statements with the intention of divorce. If he merely uttered these words out of anger without the intention of divorce, Talaaq will not take effect.
Once the husband issues his wife one or two Talaaq e Baain, she has to sit in Iddah. If the husband wishes to take back his wife, he may so only after renewing the Nikah. The Iddah will be same as explained above in Talaaq e Rajie.
TALAAQ E MUGHALAZAH
Talaaq e Mughallazah is when the husband issues three divorces to his wife. Once the husband issues his wife three divorces (Talaaq e Rajie or Baain), she becomes permanently Haraam upon him. She cannot marry him until after the Halaalah process.
Halaalah is were the wife after observing the Iddah as explained above in talaaq-e-raj’i, marries another man and consummates the marriage. The second husband then divorces her or passes away. After observing the Iddah from this marriage, she may then marry her first husband.
And Allah knows best
Wassalam
Muhammed Zakariyya Desai,
Assistant Mufti
Checked and Approved by:
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Darul Iftaa, Madrassah In'aamiyyah
