Al-Sharḥ al-Mumtiʿ - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (13/41)

whoever performs an act that is not in accordance with our matter will have it rejected” (1). A threefold divorce is not in accordance with the command of Allah and His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him; it must therefore be rejected and deemed invalid. There is no doubt that their position and their use of this hadith as evidence are strong, were it not for the opposing hadith of Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, who said: A threefold divorce during the lifetime of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, the caliphate of Abu Bakr, and the first two years of Umar’s caliphate counted as one. It is therefore said that divorce is excepted from the Prophet’s statement, “Whoever performs an act that is not in accordance with our matter will have it rejected,” for the sunnah has established that a threefold pronouncement of divorce counts as one.

As for the two views of Ahl al-Sunnah:

The first is that three pronouncements count as three, and the woman becomes irrevocably divorced thereby. This is the view of the majority of the Ummah and the imams. Thus, if he says, “You are divorced three times,” she becomes irrevocably divorced from him; and if he says, “You are divorced; you are divorced; you are divorced,” she becomes irrevocably divorced from him. Hence, the three pronouncements count as three, whether uttered in a single statement or in more than one.

The second view, held by a small number of scholars—yet it is the correct view—is that it counts as one pronouncement. This was the view chosen by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him. Its proof lies in the Quran and the sunnah. As for the Quran, Allah Most High says:

“O Prophet! When you divorce women, divorce them for their prescribed waiting period.” [al-Talaq 65:1]

A second divorce occurs outside the prescribed waiting period, because the waiting period begins with the first divorce, and the second divorce does not alter that waiting period. It is thus a divorce pronounced outside the prescribed waiting period and must be rejected, in accordance with the Prophet’s statement, peace and blessings be upon him: “Whoever performs an act that is not in accordance with our matter will have it rejected.”

(1) Its source has previously been cited on p. 13.

عملاً ليس عليه أمرنا فهو رد» (١)، وطلاق الثلاث ليس عليه أمر الله ورسوله ﷺ فيكون مردوداً لاغياً، ولا شك أن قولهم واستدلالهم بهذا الحديث قوي، لولا أنه يعارضه حديث ابن عباس ﵄ قال: كان الطلاق الثلاث على عهد النبي ﷺ وأبي بكر وسنتين من خلافة عمر واحدة، فيقال: إن قوله: «من عمل عملاً ليس عليه أمرنا فهو رد»، يستثنى منه الطلاق، فالطلاق ثبتت السنة بأن الثلاث يقع واحدة. وأما قولا أهل السنة: فالأول: أن الثلاث تقع ثلاثاً، وتبين به المرأة، وهذا هو الذي عليه جمهور الأمة والأئمة، فإذا قال: أنت طالق ثلاثاً بانت منه، وإذا قال: أنت طالق، أنت طالق، أنت طالق، بانت منه، فتقع الثلاث ثلاثاً سواء بكلمة واحدة، أو بأكثر. الثاني: وقال به بعض العلماء، وهم قليلون، لكن قولهم حق: إنه يقع واحدة، وهذا اختيار شيخ الإسلام ابن تيمية ﵀، ودليل ذلك القرآن والسنة، أما القرآن فإن الله ـ تعالى ـ قال: ﴿يَاأَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ إِذَا طَلَّقْتُمُ النِّسَاءَ فَطَلِّقُوهُنَّ لِعِدَّتِهِنَّ﴾ [الطلاق: ١]، والطلاق الثاني يقع لغير العدة؛ لأن العدة تبدأ من الطلاق الأول، والطلاق الثاني لا يغير العدة، فيكون طلاقاً لغير عدة، فيكون مردوداً لقول النبي ﷺ: «من عمل عملاً ليس عليه أمرنا فهو رد».

(١) سبق تخريجه ص (١٣).