Divorced second wife to save first wife's life

28-5-2002 | IslamWeb

Question:

I have a female friend in Jeddah, who is married to a man as his second wife. This is her second marriage also. She has a son from her ex-husband. Her present husband did not tell his first wife about his second marriage, as he has three kids from his first wife. Two weeks ago he told his first wife that he had been married to a second woman for about two years. When the first wife heard this she started quarrelling and screaming that she will commit suicide if he didn't divorce his second wife this instant. She said she would jump out of the window if he didn't divorce the second wife.He got very confused, afraid of her jumping out of the window and dieing [she is the mother of his 3 sons also]. So he said, "I divorce her" three times quickly, but didn't mention her name, and not intending to give her Talaq, just to save his first wife.Has the second wife really been divorced or not?Have all the 3 divorces occurred?Can she go back to her husband without marrying him again?If divorce is irrevocable, what should she do now?Its already been more than 2 weeks now. Her husband comes home, but she doesn't treat him as husband until she is clear whether she is Halal to him or not. So please tell me as soon as possible. I would appreciate an early answer.

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Answer:

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the World; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.

This man's act, i.e. divorcing his second wife to save the life of his first wife, is in compliance with Shari'a ruling if he strongly believes that she will kill herself in case of refusing divorce of the second wife. Divorce in such a case as stated is not under compulsion and is valid. Scholars stated that threatening to kill someone does not come under the ruling of compulsion in Shari'a unless such threatening aims at killing one's father, mother, son or daughter.
According to the majority of Muslim scholars, using the form "divorced thrice" constitutes a final divorce, i.e. three divorces at one time.
Therefore, the fellow wife of your female friend is divorced irrevocably from her present husband. So, she becomes Haram for him until she marries another man with sincere intention for marriage. After that, if her latter husband divorces her and she observes her 'Iddah (waiting period) she can return to her first husband but with all conditions of a true marriage: her consent, her guardian's presence, two witnesses and the Mahr (bridal money).
Allah knows best.