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Divorce pronounced while drunk is still valid

QUESTION:

Dear Wael,

Last year my husband divorced me 3 times when he was drunk. Next day he said it did not happen cuz he was angry and he has given sadaka so its ok. It's been a year but I still keep thinking about it. Please advise me, did it happen or not?

- Sister Zenia

WAEL ANSWERS:

Dear Sister Zenia, As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah,

Yes it happened. The divorce is valid. The fact that he was drunk does not invalidate the divorce.

Sheikh Taha Jaber Alalwani answered this same question in a fatwa session on IslamOnline.net. He said:

"Regardless of your husband state when he uttered the divorce edict, the divorce is still valid. Even some Ulama go as far as to say that a person who practices these Harams (prohibitions) such as drinking, that the divorce decree should be enforced more harshly as a punishment for these vices. So the conclusion according to your description is that you are divorced."

However, the practice of "triple talaq" or pronouncing divorce three times in one sitting, is invalid Islamically and should be considered as one divorce only. Therefore this would be counted as one declaration of divorce by your husband. So you are still married.

The practice of triple talaq in one sitting has no sanction in the Qur'an and in the traditions of the Prophet (pbuh). Being, in Islamic legal language, a bid'ah or wrongful innovation, it is not part of the Prophet's sunnah, so it cannot be considered lawful in the Islamic Shari'ah. Once Rukana, a companion of the Prophet (pbuh), pronounced three talaqs in one sitting but later repented. He approached the Prophet for help, and the Prophet told him that the three talaqs that he had given amounted only to a single talaq, and that, therefore, he could go back to his wife if he wanted to. Ther is not a single instance reported of a triple talaq being accepted by the Prophet (pbuh) as constituting a final, irrevocable divorce.

And Allah knows best.

If any readers have some additional advice for this questioner, feel free to post your comments below.

(O Allah), Guide us to the straight path; The path of those whom you have favored; Not those with whom you are angry; Nor those who go astray.

Best regards,

- Wael Abdelgawad

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