marriage was done in the Islamic way. I divorced her three times, and
after the divorce she got married to a Christian man, then he divorced
her.
Is it permissible for me to marry her again?
-
Praise be to Allah.
If a Muslim marries a Christian woman, then divorces her three times,
then she marries a Christian man after that in a valid marriage, and
he is intimate with her in the manner in which a man is intimate with
his wife, then he divorces her, in that case she becomes permissible
for her first husband, the Muslim, after the end of her 'iddah. That
is because of the general meaning of the verse in which Allah, may He
be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):"And if he has
divorced her (the third time), then she is not lawful unto him
thereafter until she has married another husband. Then, if the other
husband divorces her, it is no sin on both of them that they reunite,
provided they feel that they can keep the limits ordained by Allah"
[al-Baqarah 2:230]. And the Christian man in this scenario is a
husband. This is the view of the majority of scholars.
Imam ash-Shaafa'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said inal-Umm(4/289):
If a Muslim man divorces his Christian wife three times, then a
Christian or a slave marries her, and has intercourse with her, then
she becomes permissible to the first husband if the second husband
divorces her, once her 'iddah has ended, because either of these two
men is a husband, and Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says
(interpretation of the meaning):"until she has married another
husband" [al-Baqarah 2:230]. So in this case she has married another
husband. End quote.
Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked about a man who
married a Christian woman, then divorced her, then she married a
Christian man who then divorced her. Can she go back to the Muslim? He
said: Yes; do you not see that Allah says (interpretation of the
meaning):"until she has married another husband" [al-Baqarah 2:230]?
And is this man not a husband? End quote.
And he was asked about a Christian woman who was married to a Muslim,
who divorced her three times, and her 'iddah ended, then she married a
Christian man who consummated the marriage with her, then he died or
divorced her; is it permissible for her Muslim ex-husband to marry
this Christian woman?
He said: Yes, because he was a husband. A Christian may make a dhimmi
woman permissible for a Muslim to remarry.
End quote fromAhkaam Ahl al-Milal wa'r-Riddah(p.170)
It says inal-Fataawa al-Hindiyyah(1/473):
If a Christian woman was married to a Muslim and he divorced her three
times, then she married a Christian man and he consummated the
marriage with her, she becomes permissible for the Muslim who
previously divorced her three times (to remarry). End quote.
It says inal-Mawsoo'ah al-Fiqhiyyah(10/256):
The majority of fuqaha' are of the view that intercourse with her
dhimmi husband makes it permissible for her to remarry the first
husband (if the second husband then divorces her), because the
Christian man is a husband. But that is contrary to the view of
Maalik, Rabee'ah and Ibn al-Qaasim, who said that this does not make
her permissile (for the Muslim man to remarry).
And Allah knows best.
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