Had he abided by the sacred text...

Had he abided by the sacred text, he would have certainly followed the Holy Prophet as regards the share of the al-Mu’allafah Qulubuhum ; and had he been a mujtahid, he should have pointed out the matters upon which he rested in preferring a ruling to another! It is worth mentioning that Dr. Nadiah al-`Umariy, in her book of Ijtihad al-Rasul , has thoroughly discussed the issue of the three-time divorce in the course of citing examples on the scholars’ disagreement about the Ijtihad.

In this regard, she says: Originally, the validity of divorce is materialized when it is said on three different occasions. In this respect, the Holy Qur'an reads, ‘Divorce must be pronounced twice and then (a woman) must be retained in honor or released in kindness.’ (Holy Qur’an: 2/229) The purpose beyond the separation of the divorce is that a husband will be given an opportunity to think deeply over the marital bond that the Almighty has confirmed the significance of its continuity.

After the two times of divorce, Almighty Allah says, ‘And if he hath divorced her (the third time), then she is not lawful unto him thereafter until she hath wedded another husband.’ (Holy Qur’an: 2/230) This is the divorce as has been explained in the Holy Qur'an; it is valid only when it is separated (i.e. repeated on different occasions). What should the ruling be if a husband wastes the opportunity and pronounces the form of divorce three times on one occasion?

As a matter of fact, you cannot find in the Holy Qur'an any text that treats this question; yet, the Holy Sunnah has something about it. It has been narrated that after Rukanah ibn `Abd had pronounced the form of divorce in his wife’s face three times on the same situation, he was deeply grieved; he therefore referred the question to the Holy Prophet. ‘How did you divorce her?’ asked the Holy Prophet. ‘I pronounced the form of divorce three times,’ answered Rukanah.

‘Were the three times on the same situation?’ asked the Holy Prophet. ‘Yes, they were,’ answered Rukanah. ‘Well,’ said the Holy Prophet, ‘These three utterances are regarded as one. You thus can take your wife back.’ Rukanah therefore take his wife back.[^4] Nevertheless, the people, during the reign of `Umar ibn al-Khattab, underrated the divorce that most of them pronounced the form of divorce three times on the same situation.