Question: I am a married man. A quarrel broke out between my wife and me, I became extremely angry and said to her, “You are divorced according to all the schools of law.” She in turn declared me forbidden to her and said, “From today you are my brother.” Our dispute did not last long; once our tempers cooled we got back together. Is our return to one another unlawful in light of the divorce I uttered and the prohibition she uttered? Kindly advise us, and may Allah reward you.

Answer: First, both of you were in the wrong. When a believer is overtaken by anger, he must seek refuge with Allah from Satan the accursed and restrain his tongue from foul and evil speech, for Satan gains mastery over a person in moments of anger, and anger is from Satan. The remedy is therefore to seek refuge with Allah from Satan’s evil, as Allah the Exalted says, “Indeed, those who are mindful of Allah—when a visitation from Satan touches them, they remember, and immediately they see things clearly” (7:201). He also says, “If a prompting from Satan stirs you, then seek refuge in Allah; He is indeed the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing” (41:36). This is what is required of a Muslim when anger befalls him.

With regard to what happened between you—your pronouncement of divorce and her declaring you forbidden to her like her brother—these utterances are prohibited. Since you have now resumed the marriage, if that resumption occurred during her waiting period and the divorce had not yet reached the full three pronouncements, then the resumption is valid.

But if this pronouncement completed earlier divorces so that the total became three, then you have no right to take her back; or if the divorces were fewer than three but her waiting period has expired, then likewise you may not take her back except with a new contract, and if