Divorce in Islam

In the ṭalāq divorce, the husband pronounces the phrase "I divorce you" (in Arabic, talaq) to his wife. A man may divorce his wife three times, taking her back after the first two (reconciling). After the third talaq they can't get back together until she marries someone else. Some do a "triple ṭalāq", in which the man says in one sitting "I divorce you" three times (or "I divorce you, three times", "you're triple divorced"). Many Islamic scholars believe there is a waiting period involved between the three talaqs, pointing to Quran 65:1^{[Quran 65:1]} and various hadiths. However the practice of "triple ṭalāq" at one sitting has been "legally recognized historically and has been particularly practiced in Saudi Arabia."

Shia and Sunni Muslims have different rules for performing a ṭalāq divorce. According to some Sunni schools of jurisprudence, each talaq utterance should be followed by a waiting period of three menstrual periods for women or three month (iddah), when the couple are supposed to try to reconcile with the help of mediators from each family, until the third and final ṭalāq. Some Sunnis who believe the practice of triple talaq in one is wrong; nonetheless accept it as final, especially the Hanafi schools of jurisprudence.