What is the ruling if a husband doubts whether he has pronounced divorce upon his wife?
Chapter on Divorce by Calculation
Al-Mughni
Book of Divorce
Primary text
If a husband doubts whether he has pronounced divorce, the divorce is not effective. This is the established position of Ahmad, as well as the Madhhab of Al-Shafi'i and the Ashab al-Ra'y (Hanafis). The basis for this is that the marriage contract is established with certainty and cannot be nullified by doubt. Evidence is found in the Hadith of Abdullah bin Zayd, where the Prophet, peace be upon him, instructed a man who suspected passing wind during prayer: "He should not leave until he hears a sound or smells an odor." This mandates building upon certainty and discarding doubt. Furthermore, doubt occurring subsequent to certainty must be discarded, similar to one who doubts ritual impurity while in a state of purity, or vice versa. However, piety may dictate accepting the divorce as pronounced.
Supporting text
If the doubt pertains to a revocable divorce (talaq raj'i), the husband may take his wife back if consummation has occurred, or renew the marriage contract if she was not yet consummated or if her waiting period has ended. If he doubts having pronounced three divorces, he should treat it as one divorce and leave her, because if no divorce occurred, his certainty of marriage remains, and she remains permissible to him. A report from Shuraik suggested that if one doubts divorce, he should pronounce one divorce and then immediately revoke it, so the revocation acts upon a certain divorce. This view is incorrect because uttering a revocation is possible even with doubt regarding the divorce itself, and it does not require the specific intention required for acts of worship. Moreover, if he doubted two divorces and pronounced one, he would then doubt whether she became forbidden to him entirely, rendering the revocation ineffective.