Praise be to Allaah.
As you are in a land where
there are shar’i courts, you must refer the matter to the court to decide
about your husband’s words and determine as to whether a divorce issued by
one who is drunk counts as such or not, and the number of divorced that have
been issued to you.
The husband has to repent
to Allaah from drinking intoxicants, and he must tell the judge frankly
about what really happened, and not conceal the fact that he was drunk, so
that the judge may rule as to whether the marriage is still valid or not.
And you should not allow him to be intimate with you until the judge decides
about your case.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may
Allaah have mercy on him) was asked about the wife of a man who was addicted
to alcohol, and one day he drank until he was drunk, then he divorced her –
does the divorce issued when he was drunk count as such or not?
He replied (may Allaah have
mercy on him):
With regard to the wife’s
question about her husband divorcing her when he was drunk, there is a
difference of opinion among the scholars as to whether or not a divorce
issued in a state of intoxication counts as such. The well known view
according to the Hanbali madhhab is that it does count as such, as a
punishment to him for drinking, because this drinker is disobeying Allaah,
may He be glorified and exalted, so his sin should not be accepted as a
reason to be lenient and not let his divorce count as such. One of the
scholars said: Rather a divorce issued by one who is drunk does not count as
such, and this is what was narrated from the caliph ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan
(may Allaah be pleased with him), and it is more in tune with the analogy of
other cases, because the drunkard is not aware of what he is saying and does
not realize what he is saying, so how can he be held to something that he
was unaware of? Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “O you who
believe! Approach not As‑Salaah (the prayer) when you are in a drunken state
until you know (the meaning) of what you utter” [al-Nisa’ 4:43]. This
indicates that the drunkard does not know what he is saying, so how can he
be held to something he does not know?
As for their saying that
it is a punishment, the punishment for the one who drinks alcohol is only
for himself; he is to be punished with the flogging that is mentioned in the
Sunnah. If we punish him by making his divorce count as such, then in fact
this punishment affects his wife too, as separation takes place, and she may
have children, so the family is broken up and the harm affects people other
than him. So the correct view is that the divorce of a drunkard does not
count as such, and what he says should not be taken seriously, but
nevertheless this case should referred to the shar’i court so that we may
determine whether his wife should stay with him or separate from him, and
the shar’i court may put an end to any difference of opinion. And Allaah is
the Source of strength.
End quote from Fataawa
Noor ‘ala al-Darb.
He was also asked: What is
the ruling on a man who divorces his wife when he is drunk, and he says that
he was in a state of extreme intoxication, but he understood what he was
saying. Does this divorce count as such?
He replied: There is a
difference of opinion among the scholars as to whether a divorce issued by a
drunk counts as such. Some of them say that it does not count as such, and
others say that it does. Such cases are difficult because if the man was
drunk and was aware of what he was saying, then the case should be referred
to the court so that the judge may rule as he sees fit. But if it was a
first or second talaaq, the husband should be told to take her back, just o
be on the safe side.
End quote from Liqa’
al-Baab al-Maftooh (10/24).
And Allaah knows best.
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