Divorce Case
Question
I myself wrote “I (ex-husbands name) divorce you (my name)” three separate times on a paper. My ex-husband signed it, accepted it, left and made no reconciliation within the appropriate time. Now, I am married to someone else. My ex-husband and my family are claiming that the divorce and my new marriage is not valid. Their reasons are: (1) There were no witnesses. (2) I wrote it and he merely signed it. (3) I forced him. (4) He was angry and did not intend it.
My defence is: (1) Witnesses are not compulsory for divorce. (2) He signed it with his own free will and full consciousness. (3) I did not force him and neither was he so angry that he was not aware of what he was doing. (4) He even confirmed several times in later conversations that we are divorced. (5) He did not attempt any reconciliation which would have made his intentions clear, and left the home, and only returned seven months later when he found out I was about to marry my new husband.
Please can you clarify this for me. My family are not supporting me and my new husband but rather supporting my ex-husband. I have already taken an oath that the divorce took place in this manner and received a divorce certificate from a Fatwa council but my family and ex-husband claim it is fake. They are not letting me move on with my new husband whom I have been married to for almost a year now.
بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم
Answer
If what has been described is true and he indeed signed the document and at the point of signing he understood it as signing three divorces, then the three divorces occurred.
Divorce does not require witnesses. Signing the divorce is sufficient. The intention is not relevant when the wording is clear and explicit. Divorce is normally issued whilst a person is angry and this is therefore not a valid excuse. Force can be a valid excuse in certain limited circumstances, if the force is based on a material physical threat or imprisonment or similar. However, you have affirmed there was no such force.
It should be noted that this answer is based on the information in the question.
Allah knows best
Yusuf Shabbir
24 Rajab 1444 / 15 February 2023
Approved by: Mufti Shabbir Ahmed and Mufti Muhammad Tahir
