“If I lose, talaq”

Question

Two people argue with each other over some matter and, over winning and losing, both of them set the condition: “میں ہار گیا تو اپنی بیوی کو طلاق دیدوں گا” (“If I lose, I will give my wife talaq”), and the other says the same. Now, will talaq take effect on the wife of whichever of them loses, or not? Are these words sufficient for talaq or not? And if he says: “میں ہار گیا تو طلاق ہے” (“If I lose, it is talaq”), will talaq take effect in this case as well? Is it permissible for a Muslim to set such a condition?

Answer

In the first case, talaq did not take effect merely by setting this condition and losing, because this is a promise of talaq, not the pronouncing (iqa‘) of talaq. In the second case, talaq will take effect upon losing: [ar]إذا أضافه إلى شرط وقع عقيب الشرط[/ar] “If he attached it to a condition, it takes effect immediately after the condition” (“al-Hidaya”).

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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