Q: I was married in 2013. Shortly afterwards, I developed an ulcer which my in-laws took to be cancer. Even while I was in hospital, they started to threaten me and asked for divorce. They threatened to implicate me in a dowry case, make everyone go to jail and get all our property to be sold. After a lot of requests, they met my surgeon who had done that surgery. When they found out after meeting him that I honestly did not have cancer and I was telling the truth, they agreed to continue the marriage relationship depending on some conditions. They gave us 15 days time. An agreement had been reached between us. We were ready to meet every condition. But two days later, they called me to say that they will terminate the relationship as they had found another groom, who happened to be my wife’s ex-boyfriend. After that, they came and intimidated me when I was alone in the house. Everyone in my family had gone to the hospital as my brother-in-law was sick. They surrounded me on all sides and threatened me and frightened me into signing on a piece of paper. While I did sign on the paper, I did not say anything aloud. I was seriously ill and in bed-rest. I was alone in the house while they had several goons. As a result, I could not fight and had to sign out of fright. I would have been implicated in a dowry case if I hadn’t signed and would have been humiliated. I would have been physically harmed. I was being threatened with the Dowry Case, selling of the house and physical harm. That is why I signed on that paper.
1) Am I divorced now as I have signed on that piece of paper?
2) I had not enunciated any word orally. I only signed on that paper on which “Triple Talaq” was written in order to save myself.
3) My intention was not to go for divorce.
Is my Talaq (divorce) valid or not?
A: According to your account of events, you never intended divorcing your second wife; you had no intention of doing so; you wrote the talaaq under duress and pressure from your first wife and her family. My ruling is, therefore, that the talaaqs you wrote to your second wife were not valid.
You did express an intention to give one talaaq. So if her iddat is still in progress, then as a precaution you should verbally revoke that talaaq. You can do so, preferably in front of two witnesses, by saying: “I have revoked the talaaq given to …. (take the name of the second wife here)” Or ” I have taken her back”. The nikah between you and your second wife will then still be intact.
If her iddat is over by now then you can still get back with her by making nikah to her again, in front of two witnesses.
Allah knows best. May Allah guide you all, aameen
Aadiel Moosagie (Mufti)
[email protected]
www.councilofulama.co.za