Question
Assalamu ʿalaykum, I would like to request a fatwa regarding whether an Islamic talaq has occurred in my situation and, if so, when my ʿiddah begins. My husband and I are currently going through a joint civil divorce application in Ontario, Canada. We have both agreed to the divorce, and I prepared/submitted the joint divorce application. My husband personally signed the divorce application/documents. Immediately after signing the documents, he said “Mabrouk” to me. However, he did not verbally say the words “ṭāliq,” “I divorce you,” or any other explicit words of talaq to me, either before or after signing the documents. There was no verbal pronouncement of talaq between us. My questions are: 1. Does my husband’s signing of the joint divorce application constitute an Islamic talaq even though he did not verbally pronounce talaq? 2.If talaq did occur through the signing of the documents, what date should be considered the date of talaq?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salamu alaykum wa-rahmatullahi wa-barakatuh.
Sister in Islam,
You have asked whether your husband's signing of the joint divorce application constitutes a talaq, and from which date your waiting period runs.
In principle, talaq may be given in speech or in writing. A written statement signed by the husband takes effect as a talaq when its words are explicit, and when its words are indirect, it takes effect only if the husband intended divorce by them. A joint application for divorce in Ontario does not contain the words "I divorce you." It is a legal document in which the husband declares that the marriage has broken down and asks the court to end it. Since the word divorce in this setting can refer to the civil procedure alone, which is a matter of the law of the land and is separate from the dissolution of the marriage in the Shariah, the document by itself does not amount to a talaq. It becomes a talaq only where the husband signs it with the express intention of ending the marriage in the Shariah, and where he signs it merely as the legal step required to obtain the civil decree, without that intention, no talaq occurs by the signature.
Accordingly, if your husband signed the application intending by it to divorce you, one irrevocable talaq took effect on the date he signed, and your waiting period began from that date. His saying "Mabrouk" to you immediately after signing is a strong indication that he understood the signing as the end of the marriage and intended it so. If he confirms that this was his intention, then the date of the talaq is the date of his signature. If, on the other hand, he states that he signed the application only as a legal procedure without intending divorce by it, then no talaq occurred at the signing, and the marriage remains until he pronounces talaq or until the civil decree is granted at his request, at which point it would take effect as a talaq by his consent.
We advise you to ask him plainly whether he intended divorce by signing. Where a husband confirms the intention, the matter is settled as above. Where he denies it, write to us with his exact words and we will advise further. Since one irrevocable talaq does not end the possibility of remarriage, if the two of you later wish to reconcile, that may be done by a new marriage contract.
The waiting period for a woman who menstruates is three complete menstrual cycles from the date of the talaq. During this period you remain entitled to maintenance and residence from him, and you may not marry anyone else.
Allah knows best
Mufti Mirza-Zain Baig
And Allah Ta'ālā knows best.
Answered by
Mufti Mirza-Zain Baig
B.Ed, CSAA
Montréal, Canada · Canadian Centre for Islamic Research and Ifta
Have a question of your own?
Ask a Question