The legal effect of repeatedly saying, "If I swear by divorcing you, you are divorced."
Chapter on Explicit Divorce and Others
Al-Mughni
Book of Divorce
Primary text
If a man says to his wife, "If I swear by divorcing you, you are divorced," and then repeats this statement, one divorce occurs upon the first instance, and another divorce occurs each subsequent time the condition is met, until the threefold divorce is completed. This is the position of Shafi'i and the Ashab al-Ra'y (Hanafi school). The justification is that each repetition constitutes the fulfillment of a condition that results in divorce, thereby establishing a new divorce obligation.
Supporting text
Abu Thawr holds that this repetition is not considered an oath, and divorce is not repeated, viewing the repetition as mere emphasis following the initial statement. The counter-argument against this is that the repetition signifies the re-occurrence of a condition that permits or prohibits action, thus constituting a new oath, as in the case of entering a house. Repeated speech is considered a recurrence of the act itself, and if the first instance was an oath, the second is also a new oath, unless the repetition was intended only for clarification, in which case no divorce results, similar to saying "You are divorced, you are divorced" intended as emphasis.