Only the man has the right to divorce. Once the man divorces his wife, the divorce comes into effect. The woman has no choice in this irrespective of whether she accepts the divorce or not. In all cases, the divorce comes into effect. The wife cannot divorce her husband. The man has the right of issuing three talaqs only, and not more. If he issues four or five talaqs even then only three will be considered. Once the man utters: “I divorce my wife”, and utters these words in such a tone that he himself can hear these words, divorce comes into effect. This is irrespective of whether he uttered them in private or in public, and whether his wife heard him uttering these words or not. In all cases, divorce takes place. Divorce is of three types: The First Type: Is that the nikah is completely annulled and it is not permissible to live with the man without renewing the nikah. If the woman wishes to stay with this man again, and the man also agrees to keep her, they will have to have their nikah performed again. Such a talaq is known as talaqul ba’in. The Second Type: Is that if the husband and wife wish to remarry, then after completing the ‘iddah for the first divorce, she will have to marry another person. When he divorces her, she will have to complete the ‘iddah for this second divorce. Only then will it be permissible for her to remarry her first husband. Such a talaq is known as talaqul mughallazah. The Third Type: Is that the nikah has not broken as yet. If the husband divorces his wife by uttering the words of divorce one or two times and thereafter regrets his action, it will not be necessary to renew this nikah. He can live with this wife without performing another nikah and it will be permissible for them to live as a normal couple. However, if the man divorced her and maintained this divorce of his, i.e. he did not regret his action nor did he decide to continue living with his wife, then the moment the ‘iddah of talaq expires, the nikah will break and the woman will be separated from her husband. As long as the ‘iddah does not expire, the man has the choice of either keeping his wife or not keeping her. Such a talaq is known as talaqur raj’i. It should be borne in mind that if the husband issues three talaqs, he will not have the choice of keeping his wife.
