What is the ruling when a husband says to his wife: 'If I divorce you, or if a divorce from me befalls you, you are divorced three times before it'?
Chapter on Explicit Divorce and Others
Al-Mughni
Book of Divorce
Primary text
The apparent text contains no explicit ruling, but the view of Al-Qadi is that the wife is divorced three times: one divorce directly upon utterance, and two conditional divorces suspended on the condition. This aligns with the position of Al-Shafi'i and some of his companions. The basis for this ruling is that the utterance constitutes an immediate, binding divorce, and the condition then attaches to this already established divorce, leading to the subsequent pronouncements taking effect. Furthermore, the general scope of legal texts necessitates the occurrence of divorce, as evidenced by statements such as the saying of Allah Almighty: {If he divorces her, then she is not lawful to him afterward until she marries a husband other than him} (Quran 2:230), and {Divorced women shall keep themselves in waiting for three periods} (Quran 2:228). The opponents' view, which would nullify the divorce entirely due to impossibility or circularity, must be rejected because it negates the benefit established by Shariah for divorce, which is not permissible merely by opinion and arbitrary judgment.
Supporting text
A dissenting view, attributed to Ibn 'Aqil, holds that only one divorce occurs upon direct utterance, and the conditional part is void because it stipulates divorce in a past time, which is impossible to actualize. Another position, held by Abu Al-'Abbas Ibn Surayj and some Shafi'is, states that divorce never occurs because the realization of the single divorce necessitates the prior occurrence of the three, which is impossible, thus leading to a contradiction where establishing the divorce negates its own premise (circularity or 'dawr'), requiring the entire utterance to be voided from its origin.