Issuing divorce in state of anger
21-4-2016 | IslamWeb
Question:
In the Name of Allaah, The Most Merciful, The Most Compassionate. Assalaamu alaykum. May Allaah reward you. Praise be to Allaah. A person was married for nearly two years. they were happy though arguments led to at least two prior divorces; when the last (third?) divorce took place, the husband was extremely angry due to problems and became highly unreasonable requiring his wife to agree with his anger on an issue that she did not know of. He compelled her to agree or be divorced, and she became upset and left the call. In intense anger, he sent her a message saying that he pronounced the divorce during that call and then he told her wakeel (person designated as legal guardian) that he pronounced the divorce though she had left the call as he was as shouting very loudly. The wakeel says that the husband asked him to help him smooth things out, but when the wife contacted him, he confirmed the divorce. Then the wakeel said that she may consider herself divorced though it is clear that he was not in sound state due to reasons not fully understood by the questioner. Should the couple consider themselves divorced? This has happened lots of times possibly due to husband quick temper and misunderstandings, and Allaah alone knows best due to what reasons.
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
Divorce is mostly issued by the husband in a state of anger. You should know that anger is not a valid legal impediment to the effectiveness of divorce unless the angry husband was completely unaware of what he was saying. Please refer to fataawa 121374 and 83467 about the detailed scholarly views on the divorce issued in a state of anger.
If the husband admits uttering the words of divorce, then that proves that he was aware of what he was saying. However, we recommend referring your case to the concerned authorities responsible for addressing the disputes of Muslims, like Islamic centers, so as to be able to consult a scholar directly and explain the situation in detail to him.
We stress that the spouses should strive in preserving their marriage and fostering marital stability by avoiding problems and closing the doors for the Devil. They should try to reach mutual understanding in all matters, big or small, and each spouse should fulfill the rights of his partner over him. Please refer to fataawa 88304 and 83157 about the rights of the spouses over one another.
Allaah knows best.