The Words “I Have Not Married Anyone” Do Not Cause Talaq for the Wife

Question

Question: The matter to be asked is this: a husband had already married another woman, but during a court case he wrote a statement: «میں نے کوئی شادی نہیں کی اور میرے پاس کوئی دوسری عورت موجود نہیں ہے» (“I have not married anyone, and there is no other woman with me”), and he also gave a deposition. In such a case, did the marriage contract (‘aqd) remain or not? And did talaq fall upon the wife or not?

Answer

The husband’s statement is: “I have not married anyone, and there is no other woman with me.” If it is contrary to fact, it is a lie; however, no talaq occurred by it, nor was the nikah broken: the wife who was in his nikah at the time he said this is lawful for him.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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