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Fatwa CenterDivorced Three Times and Spending on the Children Is Upon their Father
Question
My husband of 20 years have said talaq three times and said as per shariah I have divorced you in front of my eleven year old daughter. This happened two days back and he is acting normal now. I want to know whether the divorce is valid and what are the condition should I follow? Can I go to mosque to pray during Ramadan? What is the iddat period? Can I stay with him in the same house? We both have earned and made some property which is owned jointly by us. What is my share? We have two kids and both will stay with me. Can I claim maintenance from him?
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.
The view that we adopt here in Islamweb is that three consecutive divorces are effective as three divorces, whether it was with one word or successive words; be it in one single meeting, or in different meetings.
Nonetheless, some scholars, like Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah 
is of the view that divorce by uttering the word divorce three divorces, and consecutive divorces without being separated by the husband taking back his wife, or a (new marriage) contract, takes effect as one divorce only.
Based on this, if you are sure that your husband divorced you three divorces, then you have become irrevocably divorced from him, and it is not permissible for you to enable him to have sexual intercourse with you, or to reside with you in one single dwelling whose amenities are shared.
You have to seek to separate from him even if it is by seeking Khul’ in return for some money.
It is narrated in the Masaa’il of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal from his son Saalih: “I asked him (Imam Ahmad) about a woman who claimed that her husband divorced her, but she does not have evidence while her husband denies it. My father said, “The husband’s word must be taken into account, unless she does not doubt about his divorce which she has heard from him three divorces; in which case, she is not permitted to stay with him, and she has to run away from him and ransom herself from him with her money…[i.e. as compensation for him to divorce her]” [End quote]
It is permissible for a woman in her waiting period to go out of her home during the day for a need. The view of most scholars is that she does not go out to pray in the mosque.
The waiting period of a divorced woman expires by having three menstrual periods if she still has her monthly periods, or three months for the one who does not have menses, or by giving birth to the baby if the woman is pregnant.
As regards your share in the common property between you and your husband, then it is according to your exact share in them.
With regard to spending on the children who are in need of it, then this is an obligation upon their father.
If the children are in your custody, then you have the right to ask their father to spend on them.
For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 207637, 178803, 132638, and 168559.
Allah knows best.
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