Actual and Inferred Attribution of Divorce to

One's Wife
By Mufti Muhammad Ibn Adam
Q) I was at work the other day and started thinking about the word Talaq and
how it is pronounced (as I often do with an Arabic word) and began saying it to
myself. I uttered Talaq many times without directing it to my wife in any way
and there was no one there to hear me say this. I am really worried now, because
some people have told me I may have divorced my wife. Can you please let me
know
if
my
wife
is
divorced
or
not.
In

the

name

of

Allah,

Most

Compassionate,

Most

Merciful,

A basic yet extremely important principle regarding divorce is that when a man
pronounces divorce to his wife in clear and plain words (sarih), it comes into effect
regardless of whether he intends divorce or otherwise. Sarih means to explicitly
pronounce the word divorce or words derived from it, such as: I divorce you or
you are divorced. It does not make a difference in which language one pronounces
the divorce, as long as a word or sentence is specifically used for indicating divorce
(such as the word Talaq), divorce comes into effect whether one intends divorce or
not. (See: Radd al-Muhtar, 3/250 & other major works of Fiqh).
However, in order for this divorce to be effective, the husband needs to attribute it to
his wife. This attribution (idhafa) of divorce is of two kinds:
a)

Actual

b)

Inferred

Actual

attribution
attribution

(idhafa
(idhafa

sariha)
manawiyya)
Attribution

Actual attribution is when one clearly attributes the divorce to ones wife such as
saying: I divorce my wife or I divorce Zaynab, my wife Here, there is no
possibility of the man attributing divorce to anyone other than his wife, and as such,
divorce
will
without
doubt
be
effected.
Inferred

Attribution

This is when one pronounces divorce without clearly attributing it to ones wife, but
prevailing circumstances indicate that divorce is being attributed to her. For example,
the husband says: Divorce directly after having an argument with his wife or he
points towards his wife and says Divorce or Divorce to this woman. In this case
also,
divorce
will
be
effected.
Shaykh Muhammad Qudri Basha states in his Al-Akham al-Shariyya fi al-Ahwal alShakhsiyya:
It is necessary in order for divorce to be effective that the statement [of divorce] is
attributed to the woman one intends to divorce, even if it is an inferred attribution.
(Al-Akham
al-Shariyya,
P:
122)
The renowned Hanafi jurist (faqih), Imam Ibn Abidin (Allah have mercy on him)
states:
By omitting an inferred attribution, divorce will not be effected, for an inferred
attribution of divorce to ones wife is a condition [in order for divorce to be
considered
valid].
(Radd
al-Muhtar
ala
al-Durr,
3/284)
He

further

states:

It is not necessary that the attribution (idhafa) be clear and actual (sariha) in his
statement, for it is mentioned in al-Bahr: If a man said divorce and he was asked as
to whom it was attributed? And he replied: To my wife then his wife will be
considered
divorced.
(ibid)
He

also

states:

If he (the husband) said: A woman is divorced or he said: I have divorced a

woman thrice and he claimed he did not attribute the divorce to his wife, his claim
will be accepted. It is understood from this that had he not said that divorce was not
attributed to his wife; his wife would have been divorced. Because the normal practice
is that the one who has a wife only pronounces divorce in order to divorce her and no
one
else.
(ibid)
In light of what Imam Ibn Abidin (Allah have mercy on him) has stated above, it
becomes clear that attributing and directing the divorce to ones wife is a condition for
its validity. However, this attribution need not be actual, rather, clear and actual
attribution (idhafa sariha) and inferred and understood attribution (idhafa

manawiyya) are both sufficient to effect a divorce. In the case of actual attribution,
divorce will be considered effected at all costs, even if the husband claims not to have
directed the divorce to his wife, because the attribution is clear and actual. In the case
of inferred attribution, however, the default is that divorce will be considered effected,
unless the husband claims that he did not attribute the divorce to his wife, in which
case, his statement will be accepted and hence there will be no divorce. However, a
Muslim judge (qadhi) or Mufti may issue a verdict of divorce (qadhaan) if a
prevailing circumstance indicated that the husband is lying and he did attribute the
divorce
to
his
wife.
(See:
Fatawa
Rahimiyya,
5/323-324)
In essence we have three situations here: When there is no attribution of divorce to the
wife at all, when there is actual attribution and when there is inferred attribution.
So an example for the first situation (when there is no attribution) is when the husband
says to his brother or a woman other than his wife: I divorce you or when teaching a
group of students rules of divorce the teacher says: A man said to his wife, I divorce
you. In this case, divorce has not been attributed to ones wife; hence, it will not be
effected.
An example for the second situation (when there is clear actual attribution of divorce
to ones wife) is when the husband says: I divorce my wife or my wife is
divorced. In this case, divorce will be effected even if the husband was to claim that
the
divorce
was
not
attributed
to
his
wife.
An example for the third situation (when divorce is attributed to ones wife in an
inferred manner) is when the husband says: A woman is divorced or This one is
divorced or he says divorce to himself. In this case also, divorce will be effected
unless the husband swears that the divorce was not attributed to his wife. However, if
the prevailing circumstance indicates that he did attribute the divorce to his wife, such
as he said: divorce after having an argument with his wife, a Muslim judge will rule
that divorce has been effected even if the husbands claim was to the contrary.
From the above explanation, it is evident that mentioning ones wifes name is not
necessary in order for an Islamic divorce to be considered valid. Similarly, there is no
pre-requisite of the wife being in the presence of the husband when he pronounces
divorce.
As such, if a man whilst being alone said to himself: Divorce or I divorce, then
divorce to his wife will be considered valid unless he claims he did not attribute or
direct this divorce to his wife. If he made this statement after an argument with his
wife and he was still adamant that it was not directed at her, then also, technically

speaking, divorce will not be considered effected, although a Muslim judge may issue
a
verdict
of
divorce
in
an
Islamic
court
(qadhaan).
For example, a couple were fighting and arguing when the husband left the house and
whilst being alone he uttered divorce to himself without saying his wifes name and
without saying the full sentence I divorce my wife. Now, if the husband swears that
he did not direct the divorce to his wife, his word will be accepted from a technical
point of view, but a Muslim judges ruling would be that divorce has been effected.
The Fatwa issued by many Muftis will also be of divorce being effected, for the
situation entails that the husband did attribute the divorce to his wife. On the contrary,
a couple were having a quite meal together when suddenly the husband uttered
Divorce. Now, he could be thinking about a Fiqhi issue that he taught his students
during the day and hence made this utterance, or it is possible that he may be
attributing the divorce to his wife. As such, religiously (diyanatan) as well as legally
in a court (qadhaan) his claim of not attributing divorce to his wife will be accepted
and no divorce will take place. But if he did not claim anything, by default, divorce
will
be
considered
to
have
been
effected.
The

following

may

make

it

easier

to

understand

this

issue:

1) Divorce without any attribution to ones wife = No divorce at all times.

2) Divorce with actual clear attribution to ones wife = Divorce effected at all times.
3)

Divorce

a)

No

b)

Denial

from

No

prevailing

b.1)

denial

with
from

husband

that

circumstance

inferred
husband

Divorce

divorce

was

divorce

No

attribution:

attributed

to

religiously

effected.
his
or

wife:
legally.

b.2) Prevailing circumstance = religiously no divorce, but legally in a court of law

divorce
effected.
This is an extremely important issue, since many Muslims are unclear of the Islamic
ruling for a situation where the husband pronounces the word divorce to himself,
without mentioning his wifes name and without his wife being in his presence. Due
to its importance, I have endeavoured to explain this issue in depth and tried
simplifying it to the best of my ability. I hope it has been of benefit, Insha Allah.

In light of the foregoing discussion, your query should have been answered. You state
that you pronounced the word Talaq many times to yourself without attributing or
directing these pronouncements to your wife. If this was the case, then your marriage
still stands and divorce has not come into effect with these utterances. As stated
earlier, if a husband clearly states that I did not attribute the utterance of the mere
word Talaq to my wife, divorce will not come into effect. However, you need to be
precautious in the future of not uttering this word without genuinely having a need to
do
so.
And Allah knows best