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Fatwa CenterAuthorizing wife to issue divorce
Question
Salaam Shaykh. I would like to first thank you for the excellent service which you provide, and you have really benefitted me .I have an important question which I need clarification on in detail, please. The issue of the husband giving the wife the authority to divorce herself is slightly confusing me. I read through these following fataawa and have provided the statements that people have made with the clear word of “divorce” in them, but to two of them, you said that they depend on the intention, and to the other, you said that is an authorisation of divorce. Here they are:
224341 - If you do not want to be with me, then you can divorce me, I do not intend to divorce you.
286363 - If you want a divorce, it is up to you.
329521 - I cannot give you a divorce, but you have the right to get a divorce or you can get a Khul‘ (divorce requested by the wife in return of a financial compensation, which usually consists of returning the dowry).
I am confused. If a husband says to his wifem “If you want a divorce, it is up to you;” does it give the wife authority of divorce even if he did not have the intention to give her authority? If the clear word of “divorce” is mentioned when giving authority, does it depend on the husband's intention for it to count as authorisation? How come for two of the three fatwas, you said that they are not clear expressions of divorce and are dependant upon the intention even though the clear word of “divorce” is mentioned in them? Please respond in detail, Shaykh, as I am trying to learn and find your website to be extremely beneficial. Sorry if I come across as being too inquisitive. I am just trying to learn.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
First of all, we thank you for your admiration of our website, and we ask Allah to benefit you through its content, to bless us and you with sincerity in words and actions, and to accept from us, as He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.
Secondly, we did not contradict ourselves in these three fatwas, and we did not give different statements regarding their content. Rather, we stated in all of them that divorce does not take place.
The reason in the first and third fatwas (224341and 329521) is that the authorization was not made with explicit words; rather, it was like a metaphor, so, we mentioned that this depends on the intention. As for the second fatwa (286363), the reason is that the wife did not choose divorce.
Thirdly: the fact that the word “divorce” is mentioned does not necessarily mean that such a divorce is explicit; it may sometimes come as a report, and not an initiation of divorce, like when the husband speaks about the divorce of another man, for example. The word divorce may also be mentioned as a lie when informing about it; so, according to the most preponderant view of the jurists, it does not take place. Also, the divorce may be in the present or future tense, intended to be a threat, such as when he says to his wife, “You will be divorced.”
Fourthly: If the husband says to his wife, “If you want a divorce, it is up to you”; then this wording is not explicit in authorizing her to divorce herself. His intention is what counts. So if the husband did not intend with this statement to authorize her to divorce herself, it is not an authorization for her.
Allah knows best.
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