What is the ruling when a husband says to his wives collectively, 'You are divorced three times' or 'I divorce you three times'?

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When a husband addresses his wives collectively by saying, 'You are divorced three times' (Antunna tawaliqu thalathan) or 'I divorce you three times' (Talaqtukunna thalathan), each wife is divorced three times. This ruling is explicitly stated by Ahmad. The reason is that the phrasing 'I divorce you' necessitates divorcing each one of them and generalizing the decree of three divorces to all of them, resulting in three divorces for each individual wife. This contrasts with the phrasing, 'I have cast three divorces between you' (Awqa'tu baynakunna thalathan), which implies dividing the three divorces among them, meaning each receives three-quarters of a divorce.