Taking back without halala after a major (mughallaza) divorce

Question

Question: Zayd has pronounced three irrevocable (ba’in) talaqs upon his wife. Zayd is a Hanafi. Having taken a fatwa from a person who does not follow taqlid, Zayd then kept her again; Zayd had actually changed his school. Now Zayd, having become a Hanafi again, wishes to take the right path. What is the ruling for Zayd now? Will Zayd’s second nikah be valid or not?

Answer

After three talaqs, keeping the wife by renewing the nikah without halala is haram. This issue is not only that of the Hanafis; rather, there is consensus (ijma‘) of the four imams on it; the same is established by the noble hadith, which is found in Sahih al-Bukhari and other books of hadith; the same is established by the Holy Qur’an.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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