Ruling On Conditional Triple Divorce (Ta'līq Ṭalāq Thalāth)

RULING ON CONDITIONAL TRIPLE DIVORCE (TA'LĪQ ṬALĀQ THALĀTH)

Divorce is a Sharī‘ah ruling that must not be treated lightly, because it can destroy a marriage.
With regard to conditioning the divorce of a wife with three divorces if she violates a certain agreement, there are several situations:

1. If at the time of pronouncing such conditional statement, the husband who pronounces it indeed intends to divorce his wife if she violates that agreement, then his wife is divorced with one divorce.

2. If at the time of pronouncing such conditional statement, the husband who pronounces it does not intend to divorce his wife but merely to give assurance to the other party to illustrate his abhorrence of violating that agreement just as he abhors divorcing his wife, then such conditional statement does not effect divorce and has no consequence.

3. If he is uncertain of his condition during the conditional pronouncement, whether under compulsion or willingly, in a conscious state or not, understanding the meaning of that conditional statement or not, then it reverts to the original ruling that the original marriage contract remains valid. This is based on the jurisprudential maxim:
اليقين لا يزول بالشك
Certainty is not removed by doubt.

4. If the husband expresses the conditional statement as an oath upon himself regarding what he has promised, and he subsequently violates it, then he must fulfil the expiation (kaffārah) for breaking an oath.

5. If a dispute of opinion occurs between the husband and wife regarding the status of their conditional divorce, then if they bring the case to court, the determination in the case of their dispute is decided by the Syar'ie judge.