Divorce Is Not A Joke!

Question:

Will a woman be divorced if her husband jokingly said to her: “You are divorced.”?

Answer:

Whoever jokingly divorces, then his divorce is applicable as long as he intended a divorce. And if he was joking with his wife and said to her: “You are divorced! ” then, by that, she is divorced.

The issues of divorce, Nikah (marriage) and freeing a slave are serious, (and not something to be joked about). Whoever accepts the Nikah contract and (then) says: “I was (only) joking,” then this statement is not acceptable because he agreed to the contract (of Nikah) out of his own will. (Therefore), the marriage is confirmed.

Similarly, whoever divorces jokingly, his divorce is applicable as long as he intended a divorce. If he was joking with his wife and said to her: “You are divorced,” then she is divorced because of that. We are of the opinion that people should be cautious in these matters and not play around with divorce.–

Shaykh Bin Uthaymeen

Fatawa Noorun Ala Ad-Darb - Volume 2, Page 117.

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