“If I did not give talaq before, then I have given it now”

Question

Four months ago I gave talaq to both my wives: I gave talaq by saying once, “Talaq to you both” (تم دونوں کو طلاق). I obtained a fatwa about this, and the answer given was that, if there is consent, one may take back (ruju‘) during the ‘idda. After that one of my wives went off to her relatives. Four months later I went to fetch her, and they said heatedly, “Since you gave her talaq, why have you come to fetch her?

Answer

When he said once to his two wives, “Talaq to you both,” one talaq fell on each of them, in which the right to take back (ruju‘) remained. The right of taking back lasts within the ‘idda, and the ‘idda is three menstrual periods. If he did not take her back before three menstrual periods came, she has become separated by irrevocable (ba’in)

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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