What is the ruling if the husband tells his wife, 'Divorce yourself once,' and she pronounces three divorces?
Chapter on Explicit Divorce and Others
Al-Mughni
Book of Divorce
Primary text
If the husband instructs her to issue one divorce but she pronounces three, only one divorce occurs. This is the stated position of Imam Ahmad, Imam Malik, and Imam Al-Shafi'i. This is because the divorce that occurred was one that was explicitly authorized, while the excess part was not authorized. Thus, only the authorized part takes effect, analogous to instructing her to divorce herself and she also divorces her co-wives (dhara'ir), in which case only her own divorce occurs.
Supporting text
Abu Hanifa held that nothing occurs because what she uttered does not constitute a valid acceptance (qabul) of the specific instruction, analogous to selling half a slave and the buyer accepting the entire slave.