Al-Sharḥ al-Mumtiʿ - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (13/95)

of the year, as many as the days of the month, or as many as the hours of the day; three divorces take effect.

His statement, “Three take effect, even if he intends one”: this is because explicit wording has been used, and intention has no effect upon an explicit expression. The stronger view, however, is that only one divorce takes effect even if he intends three—the exact opposite of the author’s position—because even if he explicitly pronounces three divorces, it counts as one.

The conclusion of what has preceded is that when a person uses explicit numerical wording, his claim to have intended something contrary to it is not accepted. Thus, if he qualifies it as one, his intention of three is not accepted; if he qualifies it as three, his intention of one is not accepted; and if he qualifies it as two, neither an intention of one nor of three is accepted. But if he uses wording that admits of more than one meaning and can bear such an interpretation, then it is according to his intention: if he intends three, then it is three; and if he intends nothing, the basic presumption is one, while anything beyond that is doubtful and therefore carries no effect.

The author, may Allah have mercy on him, then moved on to the question of divorcing a part of one’s wife: does she become divorced or not? The author said:

“If he divorces an organ”—that is, an organ of his wife—the divorce takes effect, because divorce cannot be divided, neither in itself nor in its object. Thus, if he says to her, “Your index finger is divorced,” the woman is divorced, and the divorce extends to all of her—just as if he said to his slave, “I have emancipated your finger,” the entire slave would be emancipated.

His statement, “or an undivided share”: for example, if he says, “One hundredth of you is divorced,” this is an undivided share, and she is entirely divorced. The same applies if he says, “one tenth of you,” “a quarter of you,” or “half of you”: she is entirely divorced. The reason is that divorce cannot be divided; once it occurs with respect to one part of the body, it extends to the whole of it.

السنة، عدد أيام الشهر، عدد ساعات اليوم، فيقع ثلاثاً. وقوله: «وقع ثلاثاً ولو نوى واحدة» لوجود الصريح، والنية لا تؤثر في الصريح، والقول الراجح أنه يقع واحدة ولو نوى ثلاثاً، عكس كلام المؤلف تماماً؛ لأنه لو صرح بالثلاث صارت واحدة. وخلاصة ما تقدم أن الإنسان إذا أتى بلفظ صريح في العدد لا يقبل منه إرادة خلافه، فإذا قيده بواحدة لم تقبل إرادة الثلاث، وإن قيده بثلاث لم تقبل إرادة الواحدة، وإن قيده بثنتين لم تقبل إرادة الواحدة ولا الثلاث، وإن أتى بلفظ يحتمل ويصلح فهو على نيته، إن نوى ثلاثاً فثلاث، وإن لم ينوِ شيئاً فالأصل واحدة، وما زاد فمشكوك فيه فلا يكون شيئاً. ثم انتقل المؤلف ﵀ إلى طلاق جزء من امرأته هل تطلق أو لا؟ فقال المؤلف: «وإن طلق عضواً» أي: من زوجته وقع الطلاق؛ لأنه لا يتبعض، لا في ذاته، ولا في محله، فإذا قال لها: أصبعك السبابة طالق تطلق المرأة، فيسري الطلاق إلى جميعها، مثل ما لو قال لعبده: أعتقت أصبعك يعتق كله. قوله: «أو جزءاً مشاعاً» مثل لو قال: طالق منك واحد في المائة، فهذا جزء مشاع تطلق كلها، أو واحد في العشرة، أو ربعك، أو نصفك تطلق كلها؛ والعلة في ذلك أن الطلاق لا يتبعض، فإذا وجد في جزء من البدن سرى إلى كله.