Signing a false written statement does not effect talaq

Question

A relative of mine, Hajji Niyaz Ahmad, has considerable land in Basti district. His wife Zaynab was given one hundred and twenty-five bighas (a local measure of land area) in Gonda district by her late father. The government has combined both lands; a land-ceiling case (concerning the legal maximum limit on landholding) has begun, and the land was coming out too much. The lawyers advised him: “Submit a written statement that I have divorced Zaynab.

Answer

By such a false writing or report, talaq has not occurred religiously (diyanatan). If he had first made people witnesses that “I am signing a false writing; I have not given talaq, nor am I giving it,” then talaq will not take effect judicially (qada’an) either.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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