to pronounce yet another divorce. In that case it counts as three separate pronouncements, amounting to a major irrevocable divorce (talaq thalāth). She therefore becomes unlawful for you until she has married another husband in a genuine marriage of choice, not a contrived tahlil marriage, and that second husband then divorces her of his own accord because he no longer wishes to remain with her. This is the ruling if your aim was to bring about a real divorce.

If, however, your purpose was only to keep yourself from having contact with her during the specified period, then the matter is treated as an oath, as we have already explained, and an expiation is due.
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Living with a Divorced Woman

Question: My elder brother married a woman and had children with her. A dispute arose between them and he divorced her. He then married a second woman. He wants the children from his first wife to live with him and his second wife in his house, but their mother refuses to be separated from them, so she too has stayed in their father’s house—even though she is divorced from him—and now lives in the same home as his second wife. Is this permissible or not?

Answer: It is not permissible for a woman who has been divorced to reside in the house of the man who divorced her while he is entering that house, and while other men who are not her mahrams also come in. Were she to have a separate dwelling for herself and her children, one that is not connected to the ex-husband’s residence and into which he does not enter or live with them, there would be no objection. But so long as she remains in the marital home after the divorce, in a manner that makes it appear as though she is still his wife—he visits her and everything else that follows—this is not lawful for her. She must keep away from him and live in separate accommodation where there is no risk of temptation or prohibited circumstances.