CATEGORY > Divorce

Does Talaq occur when the wife is not addressed ?

QUESTION

If I gave my wife talaq by saying: ‘I am Talaq bayeen’ did Talaq occur ?

ANSWER

الجواب حامداً و مصلياً و مسلماً


According to the signed statement which you wrote in order to divorce your wife, the words you used were ‘I am Talaq bayeen’. In this situation, these written words do not by themselves cause Talaq (divorce) to occur.

The reason for this is that the words of Talaq must always refer to the wife, whereas, on the contrary, in the said statement, the words of Talaq clearly refer only to yourself and not the wife.

Therefore, Talaq has not occurred and these words are considered meaningless (laghw) in the Shariah, even if your intention was to divorce your wife with those words. Thus, your Nikah (marriage) is uneffected and still remains valid.

Reference

رد المحتار4/493

(أنا منك طالق) أو برئ (ليس بشئ ولو نوى) به الطلاق...

: تحته قال الشامي رح ( قَوْلُهُ أَوْ بَرِئ ) بِخِلَافِ أَنْتِ بَرِيئَةٌ فَإِنَّهُ يَقَعُ بِهِ الْبَائِنُ كَمَا يَأْتِي فِي الْكِنَايَاتِ ، أَفَادَهُ ح ( قَوْلُهُ لَيْسَ بِشَيْءٍ ) لِأَنَّ مَحَلِّيَّةَ الطَّلَاقِ قَائِمَةٌ بِهَا لَا بِهِ ، فَالْإِضَافَةُ إلَيْهِ إضَافَةٌ إلَى غَيْرِ مَحَلِّهِ فَيَلْغُو نَهْرٌ ، وَلِهَذَا لَوْ مَلَّكَهَا الطَّلَاقَ فَطَلَّقَتْهُ لَا يَقَعُ بَحْرٌ.

And Allah Knows Best.

Answered by FCB Fatwa Department