Talaq in Jest and a False Admission of Talaq

Question

Zayd quarrelled with his wife and, in a state of anger, said to her: “I will not keep you” (میں تمہیں نہ رکھوں گا). Then, when he went out of the house, a certain gentleman asked in jest: “What kind of talaq have you given your wife?” Zayd, laughing, said: “I have given a major (mughallaza) talaq” (میں نے طلاق مغلظہ دی ہے). He had not said it in front of his wife either; it merely slipped off his tongue to another person in jest, and he did not say anything from the heart.

Answer

If he pronounced a major (mughallaza) talaq even in laughter and jest, it has still taken effect, whether the wife was present or not. But if his aim by this word was to give a false report of a major talaq, i.e. to give a false piece of news to the person addressing him and to make a false admission, then religiously (diyanatan)

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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