What is the ruling when a husband says, 'Every time I divorce you with a divorce in which I retain the right of revocation, you are divorced,' and then immediately says, 'You are divorced'?
Chapter on Explicit Divorce and Others
Al-Mughni
Book of Divorce
Primary text
Two divorces occur: one by the explicit statement ('You are divorced') and the second by the conditional statement ('Every time I divorce you...'). This applies only if the divorce is not for compensation (in lieu of some right) and is upon a consummated wife. If the divorce is for compensation or applied to a wife not yet entered into (non-consummated), only the immediately stated divorce takes effect because the husband loses the right of revocation, rendering the condition void for a second divorce. If the husband pronounces two divorces, the third divorce takes effect based on the structure of the initial conditional statement.
Supporting text
Abu Bakr held that there is a difference of opinion regarding the third divorce, stating that it might or might not occur, but the preferred view is that it occurs. Al-Muzani and the followers of Al-Shafi'i rule that the third divorce does not occur because if it were established, the husband would lack the right of revocation, and the condition for the divorce would not be met, leading to a logical loop (circularity) which is broken by preventing the third divorce from taking effect. The reasoning for the primary view is that a divorce not completed to the final count, made without compensation upon a consummated wife, results in the next divorce taking effect, similar to the first instance. The inability to revoke the divorce later is due to the husband's incapacity, not a lack of ownership, akin to when the husband falls unconscious immediately after the first divorce.