Is Divorce (Talaq) through Writing or Typing Valid?

Answered by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Question

Does a divorce occur if the husband wrote “divorced“ in the wife’s presence without an intention in the middle of an argument?

What if he wrote “talaq talaq talaq“ on WhatsApp during a fight. He swore that he wanted to write “take talaq,“ which is why he deleted it immediately. The word kept coming up in his phone’s dictionary.

Answer

I pray you are well.

In the first situation, a divorce would not have occurred as the word on its own does not express that he wants to divorce you.

In the second situation, it depends on what he meant by “take talaq.“ If he was suggesting the wife agree to a divorce then nothing happened. If he meant he has divorced her and she should consider herself divorced then it happened. His word will be taken on the matter of clarifying what he meant. [Laknawi, Umdatu al Ri‘aya]

Divorce is a serious matter, and should only be executed after consultation with a scholar. Many people hastily say it and find themselves having committed a grave sin simply because they didn’t follow the clear rules.

May Allah facilitate all matters for you.
[Shaykh] Abdul-Rahim
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat began his studies in Arabic Grammar and Morphology in 2005. After graduating with a degree in English and History he moved to Damascus in 2007 where, for 18 months, he studied with many erudite scholars. In late 2008 he moved to Amman, Jordan, where he continued his studies for the next six years in Sacred Law (fiqh), legal theory (Usul al-fiqh), theology, hadith methodology, hadith commentary, and Logic. He was also given licenses of mastery in the science of Quranic recital and he was able to study an extensive curriculum of Quranic sciences, tafsir, Arabic grammar, and Arabic eloquence.