Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Asalamualaikum

Dear brother

Jazakallah khair for the early reply... After going through your email i am still not sure of my current status... though the mail is crystal clear.. but i still wanna know the exact status of my marriage.... my husband has used such words "I swear by my mother i will defintely divorce you" ... "I swear by you that i will divorce you and leave you forever" .... " i will leave you and divorce you" .... "Be prepared to go to the embassy this coming weekend as we hav to put our papers for divorce"....

and these statements hav been repeated over and over again and again over a period of time and esp in the past two months its been more than 20 times i guess....

i just wanna know if i am divorce of not

Thnx

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Intention to divorce

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Respected Sister in Islam, rest absolutely assured that an ‘intention to divorce’, either done in thought, or verbally, or even in writing, does not constitute a declaration of divorce in the Sight of Shariah Law.

If your husband has declared terms to the effect ….. ‘"I swear by my mother i will defintely divorce you" ... "I swear by you that i will divorce you and leave you forever" .... " i will leave you and divorce you" .... "Be prepared to go to the embassy this coming weekend as we hav to put our papers for divorce".... such statements of ‘intentions to divorce’ are mere words which your husband has uttered in his ignorance…..they do not constitute a declaration of divorce in the Sight of Shariah Law or of Allah Subhanah; nor do such words and declarations have any effect whatsoever on the validity of your marriage.

If and only if were your husband to declare ‘I divorce you’, then and only then would a divorce be actually established between the two of you in the marriage. But if your husband has merely threatened you with divorce, absolutely regardless of how many times he may have chosen to threaten you in his anger and/or his ignorance……rest absolutely assured that an ‘intention to divorce’ does not constitute a ‘declaration of divorce’ in the Sight of Allah Subhanah.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan