Question: I divorced my wife about eight years ago. When I asked the qaadi to record the divorce I said: “I divorce my wife So and so the daughter of So and so three times.” When I did that I knew what he had written down because I am an educated man, but when the scribe wrote it down in the records, he wrote it as one divorce. This gave my wife the hope that I would take her back and she has not remarried until now… Now I want to take her back, and her family also wants that.
The scholars differed concerning the ruling on one who divorces his wife by saying “I divorce you thrice”. The majority of scholars are of the view that this means that divorce has taken place three times; others are of the view that divorce takes place only once.
Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baazرحمة الله عليه was asked:
A man divorced his wife by saying “I divorce you thrice”; what is the ruling on that?
He replied:
If a man divorces his wife three times with one word, such as saying, “You are thrice divorced”, the majority of scholars are of the view that the woman is indeed thrice divorced and becomes forbidden for her husband until she has been married to another man in a serious marriage in which the new husband has intercourse with her and they only separate as a result of death or divorce, not a tahleel marriage (i.e., a marriage of convenience aimed at making it permissible for her to remarry her former husband).
They quoted as evidence for that the fact that ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab رضي الله عنه counted such a divorce as being three and judged among people accordingly.
Other scholars were of the view that this is to be regarded as a single divorce, and the husband may take her back so long as the ‘iddah has not yet ended. If the ‘iddah has ended then she may marry him with a new marriage contract. They quoted as evidence for that the report narrated in Saheeh Muslim from Ibn ‘Abbaas رضي الله عنه who said: “At the time of the Messenger of Allaah ﷺ, the time of Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه and the first two years of the caliphate of ‘Umar رضي الله عنه, a threefold divorce was counted as one. ‘Umar said: “People are being hasty with regard to a matter in which they should not rush. Let us count it as three and judge between people accordingly .” According to another report narrated by Muslim: Abu’l-Sahba’ said to Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with them): “Was not three counted as one at the time of the Messenger of Allaah ﷺ and the time of Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه and the first three years of the time of ‘Umar رضي الله عنه?” He said: “Yes,”
They also quote as evidence the report narrated by Imam Ahmad in al-Musnad with a jayyid isnaad from Ibn ‘Abbaas رضي الله عنه, that Abu Rakaanah divorced his wife by saying “I divorce you thrice”, then he regretted it, so the Prophet ﷺ returned her to him with one word and said, “This is only one (divorce).” This hadeeth and the one before it are to be understood as referring to divorcing by saying “I divorce you thrice”, in order to reconcile these two hadeeths and the verse in which Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“The divorce is twice”
[al-Baqarah 2:229]
“And if he has divorced her (the third time), then she is not lawful unto him thereafter until she has married another husband. Then, if the other husband divorces her, it is no sin on both of them that they reunite, provided they feel that they can keep the limits ordained by Allaah. These are the limits of Allaah, which He makes plain for the people who have knowledge”
[al-Baqarah 2:230]
This was the view of Ibn ‘Abbaas رضي الله عنه according to a saheeh report narrated from him; according to the other report narrated from him he shared the view of the majority. The view that they should be regarded as one divorce was narrated from ‘Ali, ‘Abd al-Rahmaan ibn ‘Awf and al-Zubayr ibn al-‘Awwaam (may Allaah be pleased with them).
This was also the view of a number of the Taabi’een, Muhammad ibn Ishaaq the author of al-Seerah, and a number of the earlier and later scholars. It was also the view favoured by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah and his student Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on them). This is also my view, because that is following all of the texts, and because it is also more merciful and kind to the Muslims.
Fataawa Islamiyyah, 3/281, 282.
It seems that the qaadi was also of this view, which is that the threefold divorce counts as one divorce. Based on this there is nothing wrong with taking her back.
But after the ‘iddah is over you cannot take her back, rather you have to make a new marriage contract with her.
With regard to taking her back after the ‘iddah is over – i.e., after three menstrual cycles – this is not valid, because once a woman’s ‘iddah is completed she becomes a “stranger” for her husband and she is not permissible for him except with a new marriage contract.
Fataawa Islamiyyah, 3/293
And Allaah knows best.
Question: I have read the many pages of your web site that instructs a non-believer. I believe that there is only Allah (one God). Ibelieve that Muhammed is the seal of the prophets. History bears this out. My question is: How do I declare this (shahadah) if I do not speak arabic? How do I perform the five daily prayers (salah) without understanding arabic? Finally would I have to change my name?
Answer
Praise be to Allaah.
To the dear inquirer:I welcome you with a warm greeting. I was besieged with great joy as I discovered your question while browsing through the ten questions which arrived during the past hour today, and it was the dearest question for me. This fact is not surprising, as how could our hearts not open to a wise man who has discovered the truth and has acknowledged and confirmed it for himself--one who wishes to embrace Islaam and asks about the next steps?
In reality, everything that poses a problem for you is actually an easy matter, and can be solved simply, God willing (in shaa' Allaah), so let's take them one by one:
First: all that is required of you to embrace this religion right now as you are reading these lines is to pronounce al-shahaadatain, or the two confirmations and attestations of faith, to the best of your ability. Perfect pronunciation of the Arabic letters is not required, and the following is a transliteration of the phrases with English letters to help you:
ash-hadu an laa ilaahah illallaah (I bear witness and attest that there is no god worthy of worship but the One God Allaah)
ash-hadu anna muhammad-ar-rasool ullaah (I bear witness and attest that Muhammad is the messenger of Allaah)
After pronouncing them, you should promptly hasten to take a shower to purify yourself and prepare to start performing your regular prayers which will be an obligation as soon as you have declared your belief.
Second: If you have not yet learned the manner and characteristics of performing the prayer (i.e. at least the movements and positions), appended to this message is a description from which you can learn. What is requried from you for the time being is to say in the beginning of the prayer and between each movement between positions "Allaahu ak-bar" (a glorification of Allaah). While standing, bowing, prostrating, and sitting, you should say "subhaan allaah wal-hamdu lillaah wa-laa ilaaha illallaahu wallaahu akbar." (Glory be to Allaah, and praise and thanks be to Allaah, and there is no god but Allaah, and Allaah is the most Exalted and Great.) Then conclude the prayer by turning your head to the right then left, each time saying "as-salaamu alaikum."
This way of performing salaat is permissible for you until you can learn and memorize what should be said in each movement and position of the salaat.
Third: You are not required to change your name, and in fact, a number of scholars among the forefathers and modern-day Muslims have indicated declared that your name is in fact the name of one of the prophets!
I ask Allaah to aid you and ease your affairs, and to bestow upon you the blessing of Islaam and perseverence in adhering to it. We are ready and willing to assist in explaining or helping to solve any problem or difficulty you may face, and to provide support and aid in any way possible.
Islam Q&A
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid
Question: I would like to ask about the ruling on playing video games that include some music or pictures of women, such as Playstation, and the ruling on selling them and circulating them among young people. Please note that the games are not corrupt in and of themselves and they do not promote corruption, such as football (soccer), car races bicycle races, or war games or games with weapons and so on, but they have some bad aspect as mentioned above.
Answer
Praise be to Allaah.
Electronic games in general include many evils aspects with regard to belief and behaviour, and the games are accompanied by music, and young and old become so attached to them that they make them forget their Islamic duties and distract them from the rights of their own selves and of others.
With regard to selling these games, if the haraam elements outweigh the halaal in the way it is made and the way it is used, then it is not permissible to sell them.
With regard to using them, that depends on the type of game, because some of them contain excessive violence, some of them are about pursuing prostitutes in the street, and some of them are about venerating the cross and raising the dead. They should also be free of evils such as indecent pictures and music, and they should not distract players from obligatory duties. The games should also be free of gambling and you should not play it a great deal. The shar’i ruling is based on the above. If you find these things or some of them in it, then it is not permissible to play it, but if it is free of all these things, then it is permissible.
We should advise parents and those who are in authority that it is essential to examine and watch the game before allowing children to watch it. I have found out that some games include indecent sexual scenes, such as Grand Theft Auto and Tomb Raider and many others. Some of them insult Islam badly, such as First To Fight, in which cities are cleansed of bearded men and mosques are bombed whilst the sound of the adhaan is coming form them, and shots are fired at Mus-hafs, and you cannot move on to the next level unless you cleanse the city of Muslims and their mosques!
Islam Q&A
The first question of Fatwa no. 20795
Q 1: Is it permissible to congratulate non-Muslims on the occasion of the new Gregorian year, the new Hijri (lunar) year, and the Mawlid (the Prophet’s birthday)?
A: It is not permissible to offer congratulations on such occasions; for it is not Mashru‘ (Islamically permissible) to celebrate them.
May Allah grant us success! May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions!
The ruling regarding image making needs to be addressed in detail:
Drawing pictures by hand of people and animals is unlawful. This is indicated by clear and unambiguous textual evidence. Ibn `Abbâs relates that the Prophetﷺ said:
“Whoever makes an image in this world, he will be requested to breathe life into it on the Day of Resurrection, but he will not be able to do it.” [Sahîh al-Bukhârî and Sahîh Mulsim]
Ibn Mas`ûd also relates that he heard the Prophetﷺ say:
“The severest of penalties on the Day of Resurrection will be given to image makers” [Sahîh al-Bukhârî and Sahîh Mulsim].
Making statues of animals and people is the most unlawful aspect of image making, and it deserves the severest punishment from Allah. Drawing pictures comes second.
However, the following cases are exempted from this ruling:
1. Images used by children for playing and for learning are lawful. `Aishah said:
“I used to play with dolls in front of the Prophetﷺ with my friends …” [Sahîh al-Bukhârî and Sahîh Mulsim]
as these are a means for education and constructive play and are free from the danger of being venerated.
2. Photography does not come under the category of forbidden image making, since there are many differences between photographs and hand-rendered images. It is lawful because it is an act of capturing a reflection like the reflection of an image on a mirror. Most importantly, the problem of human emulation of the creative process is not as it is with painting and sculpture.
And Allah knows best.
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