Question
(#264)
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Salam, I have a complicated situation regarding marriage, and I’m seeking an Islamic ruling about it. My ex-husband and I separated about X months ago. At that time, he told me clearly that I was divorced from him. About a month after that, he tried to talk to me to get back together. However, my family considers him completely unacceptable and they do not want him in my life at all. The same goes for his own family. Around that time, he was facing a legal case and he expected that he might not go to jail. He asked me to return to him secretly, without anyone knowing. He said that if he ended up going to jail, he could pronounce a divorce again, so that if my family wanted me to get married to someone else, it would be easy. Unfortunately, I agreed at that moment. I was not thinking clearly, and I did not understand what the situation would be like. I was also under pressure because my family wanted me to remarry. Several men came to propose; I refused two of them. Now a third person has come, and he is very serious. He spoke to my father, and my father is accepting him. This man is promising to take care of me and give me whatever I need. The problem is that I cannot tell my father that I agreed to go back to my ex-husband, or that there was any secret communication between us. He would be extremely angry, he might cut me off completely, and I’m afraid he would leave me on my own. Additionally, I have been unable to contact my ex-husband because the police told us that we are not allowed to communicate, due to the legal case. I cannot share the details of the case, but all I know is that we are legally not allowed to be together anymore, and he is currently in jail. Now my father wants me to get married again, and I don’t know what my Islamic situation is. Is there any fatwa regarding my case? Was the original divorce final? And is the “secret return” valid if it happened only in words, without any witnesses or legal documentation, while under legal no-contact
Answer
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته
حامدا و مصليا و مسلما
Muhtaramah
We have received your query regarding your marital situation, our response is as follows:
You mentioned that your husband clearly stated that you are divorced. If he declared a clear divorce (and it was either the first or second divorce he had issued to you), then the divorce would have taken effect from the moment he had uttered those words. If he then took- either verbally or through intimacy- before the completion of your Iddat (three menstrual cycles if you were not pregnant), you would have returned to his Nikah. This would apply even if he retracted the divorce privately.
And Allah Ta’ala knows best
Answered by:
Muhammad Irshad Motara
28th Jumaadul Ula 1447
20th November 2025