The Ruling on Talaq by the Word “Left”

Question

Question: Zayd, having quarrelled with his wife over some trifling matter, said: “Go, I have left you”. Afterwards Zayd was asked: “What do you mean by ‘Go, I have left you’?” Zayd says on oath: “By these words my meaning was to warn my wife, so that she would desist from mischief, not to give talaq and send her away.” Neither before nor after this incident was the word “talaq” uttered, that is, there was no discussion of talaq (mudhakarat al-talaq); husband and wife both affirm this on oath.

Answer

Here there are two expressions: the first, “go”; the second, “I have left you”. The first word is allusive (kinaya), since it is used both for talaq and for other than talaq; it has the capacity both for rejection (radd) and for reply (jawab). Whether talaq takes effect by it depends on intention (niyya)

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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