Thursday | 28 March 2024 | 17 Ramadhan 1445

Fatwa Answer

Question ID: 649 Category: Dealings and Transactions
Sayings Words of Talaq Just to Mention the Words

Asalaamulaikum 

 
I have been married for two years and have a baby on the way Alhamdulillah. For some reason I am remembering that one night, two weeks after getting newly married my husband and I went out for a romantic dinner. We were having a sweet and loving conversation that went like this 
 
Husband: I love you so much please don't ever leave my side 
Wife: I love you so very much too. You are my world. I could never leave you, it would be too hard for me to do that. If anything, you could easily leave just by saying three words. 
Husband: oh yeah talak chahiye talak chahiye talak chahiye. Wait no, talak dehta hoon talak dehta hoon talak dehta hoon. 
Wife: yes those are the words. why did you say those words out loud? 
Husband: I thought you were asking me if I knew the words so I just mentioned them. 
Wife: did you say it to me as a funny joke?
Husband: no I was only mentioning the words because I thought you were asking me if I knew the three words. 
 
We left the conversation at that. We believe that everything was okay. We even submitted this to islamqa.com and also spoke to an imam of our masjid. They both said that if he did not direct those words towards me in seriousness or in a joking divorce and only said those words as to mention the words by which divorce happens then the nikkah is fine and unharmed. He was only speaking in hypothetical terms by way of example. 
 
Now, two years later, My husband no longer remembers that conversation anymore since it was two years ago. I don't know why the other night I remembered it again. Probably because I am pregnant and am worrying about everything and get easily emotional. So I asked him, do you remember that night and that conversation? He said no not really, why? I said, I wanted to ask you again whether or not you were saying it as a joking divorce to me or whether you were just stating the words without directing them. He said, I don't remember clearly, but if i had said it as a joke to you then I would have said "just joking", "I'm just playing with you" or he would have laughed. But that was not the case. So from what we can remember he only said those words as to mention the words I was referring to without any intention of directing them towards me in seriousness or in joke. 
 
So InshAllah our marriage is valid. According to a mufti, an imam, and the islamqa.com we had done when this happened, they all said everything was still fine. 
 
Please let us know what you think as well of the situation. A

الجواب وبالله التوفيق      

On the condition that the details provided in your question are accurate, as per the situation described in your question, upon this statement of the woman that it is easy for you to leave me just by stating three words, the statement of the husband in response to tell the words that "givetalaq, give talaq, give talaq", doing this the talaq(divorce) doesn’t take effect because doing so it’s just the husband telling that those were the words. 

The answer given by the Imam of your Masjid is correct, the Nikahis still valid.

(کذا فی کتب الفتاوٰی)

واللہاعلم  بالصواب