SCC 167/1972

This case involved a man who had divorced his wife once and wife had returned. There had then been a three utterance divorce. The couple sought a fatwa to clarify the position and the wife returned to the husband. Another fatwa was sought from another authority. It was not possible to abandon an executed fatwa which has been sought from one authority by going to another.

Background

A case has been referred to the Supreme Judicial Authority by a referral letter from the Saudi Cabinet, which related to a divorce case. The case involves a man who had divorced his wife once then returned her then divorced her by uttering “you are divorced” three times in the same time. The couple sought a Fatwa on the divorce from Sheikh Bin Baz (Grand Mufit of Saudi Arabia) on the last divorce i.e. whether the divorce weighed the impact of three individual divorce decisions or just one because the man had uttered the divorce announcement three times but in the same instant.