Talaq Before Nikah

Question

A man named Saifullah Khan, who is dull-witted and half-mad, went to another village to a man, Mawlawi Khan Zaman, to get an amulet for some sick person of his household. When he had finished there, on the way back he met Ghulam ‘Abbas Khan, Muhammad Ya‘qub Khan and Muhammad Wazir Khan, since these three men were cultivating their respective land along the road. Saifullah Khan sat down there beside them. Muhammad Ya‘qub Khan said to him: “I will give you a ten-rupee note; give talaq to your wife.

Answer

If only an engagement has taken place, that is, a promise of nikah (the nikah has not been contracted), then this talaq is void; nothing has come of it: [ar]لَا طَلَاقَ قَبْلَ النِّكَاحِ[/ar] “There is no talaq before nikah.” If, however, the nikah too has already been contracted (even though the bride’s send-off to the husband’s home has not taken place)

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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