Did Ibn Taymiyyah Violate a Scholarly Consensus Regarding His Stance on Triple Talaq?
A common argument raised against Ibn Taymiyyah is that his view—asserting that pronouncing three divorces in a single sitting should only be counted as one—contradicts the established consensus among scholars. However, the following statements from various scholars show that this claim is unfounded.
Ibn Rushd (595 A.H.) states in Bidayatul Mujtahid:
وَلِذَلِكَ مَا نَرَى - وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ - أَنَّ مَنْ أَلْزَمَ الطَّلَاقَ الثَّلَاثَ فِي وَاحِدَةٍ، فَقَدْ رَفَعَ الْحِكْمَةَ الْمَوْجُودَةَ فِي هَذِهِ السُّنَّةِ الْمَشْرُوعَةِ
“This is why we observe—and Allah knows best—that anyone who enforces three divorces in a single pronouncement has, in effect, negated the wisdom embedded within this prescribed practice of the Sunnah.”
Al-Fakhr ar-Razi (d. 606 A.H.) states in his commentary, Mafatih Al-Ghayb:
وَهُوَ اخْتِيَارُ كَثِيرٍ مِنْ عُلَمَاءِ الدِّينِ، أَنَّهُ لَوْ طَلَّقَهَا اثْنَيْنِ أَوْ ثَلَاثًا لَا يَقَعُ إِلَّا الْوَاحِدَةُ، وَهَذَا الْقَوْلُ هُوَ الْأَقْيَسُ
“And this is the view chosen by many religious scholars, that if he pronounces divorce twice or three times, only one takes effect. This opinion is the most correct.”
Abu Hayyan Al-Andalusi (d. 745 A.H.) states in his commentary, Al-Bahr Al-Muheet:
وَمَا زَالَ يَخْتَلِجُ فِي خَاطِرِي أَنَّهُ لَوْ قَالَ: أَنْتِ طَالِقٌ مَرَّتَيْنِ أَوْ ثَلَاثًا، أَنَّهُ لَا يَقَعُ إِلَّا وَاحِدَةٌ
“And it has always crossed my mind that if he were to say, ‘You are divorced twice or three times,’ only one would take effect.”
Ibnul Qayyim (751 A.H.) states in Iʿlām al-Muwaqqiʿīn ʿan Rabb al-ʿĀlamīn:
وَكُلُّ صَحَابِيٍّ مِنْ لَدُنْ خِلَافَةِ الصِّدِّيقِ إلَى ثَلَاثِ سِنِينَ مِنْ خِلَافَةِ عُمَرَ كَانَ عَلَى أَنَّ الثَّلَاثَ وَاحِدَةٌ فَتْوَى أَوْ إقْرَارًا أَوْ سُكُوتًا، وَلِهَذَا ادَّعَى بَعْضُ أَهْلِ الْعِلْمِ أَنَّ هَذَا إجْمَاعٌ قَدِيمٌ، وَلَمْ تُجْمِعْ الْأُمَّةُ وَلِلَّهِ الْحَمْدُ عَلَى خِلَافِهِ، بَلْ لَمْ يَزَلْ فِيهِمْ مَنْ يُفْتِي بِهِ قَرْنًا بَعْدَ قَرْنٍ، وَإِلَى يَوْمِنَا هَذَا، فَأَفْتَى بِهِ حَبْرُ الْأُمَّةِ وَتُرْجُمَانُ الْقُرْآنِ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ عَبَّاسٍ كَمَا رَوَاهُ حَمَّادُ بْنُ زَيْدٍ عَنْ أَيُّوبَ عَنْ عِكْرِمَةَ عَنْ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ: «إذَا قَالَ أَنْتِ طَالِقٌ ثَلَاثًا بِفَمٍ وَاحِدَةٍ فَهِيَ وَاحِدَةٌ» وَأَفْتَى أَيْضًا بِالثَّلَاثِ، أَفْتَى بِهَذَا وَهَذَا.
وَأَفْتَى بِأَنَّهَا وَاحِدَةٌ الزُّبَيْرُ بْنُ الْعَوَّامِ وَعَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ عَوْفٍ، حَكَاهُ عَنْهُمَا ابْنُ وَضَّاحٍ، وَعَنْ عَلِيٍّ كَرَّمَ اللَّهُ وَجْهَهُ وَابْنِ مَسْعُودٍ رِوَايَتَانِ كَمَا عَنْ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ، وَأَمَّا التَّابِعُونَ فَأَفْتَى بِهِ عِكْرِمَةُ، رَوَاهُ إسْمَاعِيلُ بْنُ إبْرَاهِيمَ عَنْ أَيُّوبَ عَنْهُ، وَأَفْتَى بِهِ طَاوُسٌ، وَأَمَّا تَابِعُو التَّابِعِينَ فَأَفْتَى بِهِ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ إِسْحَاقَ، حَكَاهُ الْإِمَامُ أَحْمَدُ وَغَيْرُهُ عَنْهُ، وَأَفْتَى بِهِ خِلَاسُ بْنُ عَمْرٍو وَالْحَارِثُ الْعُكْلِيُّ، وَأَمَّا أَتْبَاعُ تَابِعِي التَّابِعِينَ فَأَفْتَى بِهِ دَاوُد بْنُ عَلِيٍّ وَأَكْثَرُ أَصْحَابِهِ، حَكَاهُ عَنْهُمْ أَبُو الْمُفْلِسِ وَابْنُ حَزْمٍ وَغَيْرُهُمَا، وَأَفْتَى بِهِ بَعْضُ أَصْحَابِ مَالِكٍ، حَكَاهُ التِّلْمِسَانِيُّ فِي شَرْحِ تَفْرِيعِ ابْنِ الْجَلَّابِ قَوْلًا لِبَعْضِ الْمَالِكِيَّةِ.
وَأَفْتَى بِهِ بَعْضُ الْحَنَفِيَّةِ، حَكَاهُ أَبُو بَكْرٍ الرَّازِيّ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ مُقَاتِلٍ، وَأَفْتَى بِهِ بَعْضُ أَصْحَابِ أَحْمَدَ، حَكَاهُ شَيْخُ الْإِسْلَامِ ابْنُ تَيْمِيَّةَ عَنْهُ، قَالَ: وَكَانَ الْجَدُّ يُفْتِي بِهِ أَحْيَانًا.
“Every Sahabi, from the time of the Caliphate of Abu Bakr until the third year of the Caliphate of ʿUmar, held the view—whether by issuing fatwas, agreement, or remaining silent—that a triple pronouncement of divorce counted as a single divorce. For this reason, some scholars have claimed that this constitutes an early consensus, and there has never been a unanimous agreement to the contrary, praise be to Allah. Rather, generation after generation, and even to our present day, there have been those who issue fatwas according to this view. For example, the ‘Scholar of the Ummah’ and ‘Interpreter of the Qur’an,’ ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbbas, gave this fatwa, as narrated by Hammad ibn Zayd from Ayyub from ʿIkrimah from Ibn ʿAbbas: ‘If a man says, “You are divorced three times” in one utterance, it counts as one divorce.’ Ibn ʿAbbas also issued a fatwa that, in some cases, it counts as three, thus giving both fatwas.
The view that it counts as one divorce was also issued by al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf, as reported by Ibn Waddah. Two opinions were attributed to ʿAli (may Allah honor his face) and Ibn Masʿud, similar to those attributed to Ibn ʿAbbas. Among the Successors, ʿIkrimah held this view, as narrated by Ismaʿil ibn Ibrahim from Ayyub, and Tawus also held it. Among the generation of their followers, Muhammad ibn Ishaq held this view, as recorded by Imam Ahmad and others. It was also the view of Khilas ibn ʿAmr and al-Harith al-ʿUkli.
In the generation after the followers of the Tabi’un, Dāwūd ibn ʿAli and most of his companions held this opinion, as narrated by Abu al-Muflis and Ibn Hazm and others. Some followers of Malik, as noted by al-Tilmisani in his commentary on the Tafriʿ of Ibn al-Jallab, also held this as a view within the Maliki school.
Some followers of the Hanafi school also supported this view, as reported by Abu Bakr al-Razi from Muhammad ibn Muqatil. Additionally, as mentioned by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, some of Ahmad’s followers held this view. Ibn Taymiyyah noted that occasionally, his grandfather would issue fatwas accordingly.”
Ibn Kathir (d. 774 A.H.) states in Musnad Al-Faruq:
وقد اعتمد أكثرُ الأئمَّة على هذا من فعلِ عمرَ وإمضائِهِ على الناسِ الثلاثةَ المجموعةَ، كما هو مذهبُ الأئمَّةِ الأربعةِ وأصحابِهم قاطبةً، وإنما يُؤثَرُ القولُ بخلافِهِ عن طائفةٍ من السَّلف، واختاره بعض المتأخرين من العلماء، وغيرهم
“Most of the imams have relied upon the practice of ʿUmar and his enforcement of the threefold, consolidated divorce among people, as is the position of the four imams and all their followers. However, a differing view has been transmitted from the Salaf, and some later scholars and others favored this view.”
Al-Ruhaybani Al-Hanbali (d. 1243) states in Matālib Ūlī al-Nuhā fī Sharḥ Ghāyat al-Muntahā:
وَبِخِلَافِ مَسْأَلَةِ ابْنِ تَيْمِيَّةَ فَإِنَّ الْقَائِلِينَ بِهَا كَثِيرُونَ مِنْ الصَّحَابَةِ وَالتَّابِعِينَ وَالْأَئِمَّةِ الْمَهْدِيِّينَ وَقَدْ أَنْهَيْنَا الْكَلَامَ عَلَيْهَا فِي بَابِ مَا يَخْتَلِفُ بِهِ عَدَدُ الطَّلَاقِ، فَمَنْ وَقَفَ عَلَى هَذِهِ الْأَقْوَالِ وَثَبَتَ عِنْدَهُ صِحَّةُ نِسْبَتِهَا لِهَؤُلَاءِ الرِّجَالِ يَجُوزُ لَهُ الْعَمَلُ بِمُقْتَضَاهَا عِنْدَ الِاحْتِيَاجِ إلَيْهِ خُصُوصًا إذَا دَعَتْهُ الضَّرُورَةُ إلَيْهِ وَهُوَ مُتَّجِهٌ
“In contrast to the issue raised by Ibn Taymiyyah, there are indeed many of the Sahabah, Tabi’un, and rightly-guided imams who upheld this view. We have concluded the discussion on this in the chapter concerning the varying counts of divorce. Therefore, whoever examines these statements and verifies their authentic attribution to these figures may act upon them when needed, especially if necessity calls for it, as this is a viable position.”
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