Implicit divorce in the event of doubt concerning the intention or when there is waswasah

 

If I say something that implies divorce, but I am not sure whether I intended it or not, what is the ruling on that? I am a man who has problems of forgetfulness and waswasah and uncertainty to a large extent. Am I to be blamed for some of what I say, whether in prayer or with regard to divorce or any other acts of worship?.

Praise be to Allaah.

Firstly: 

Divorces are of two types: explicit and implicit. Explicit
divorce is the word of divorce (talaaq) and phrased derived from it, such as
saying taaliq (you are divorced) or tallaqtuki (I divorce you). 

Implicit divorce means phrases such as: Go back to your
family, or I don't want you, or I have no need of you, or Allaah has
relieved you of me. 

In the first case (explicit divorce), divorce takes place
even if that was not the intention. 

With regard to the second case, which is implicit divorce,
according to the majority of Hanafis, Shaafa’is and Hanbalis, no divorce
takes place unless there was the intention of divorce or circumstantial
evidence to that effect, such as a state of anger or an argument, or the
wife asked for divorce. In that case divorce takes place even if that was
not the intention. Taking the circumstantial evidence into account in this
case is the view of the Hanafis and Hanbalis. 

See al-Mawsoo’ah al-Fiqhiyyah, 29/26 

If a person is uncertain as to whether he intended divorce or
not, then no divorce has taken place, because the basic principle is that
there is no divorce. 

Secondly: 

If a person is affected by waswasah with regard to what he
says or believes, he will not be brought to account for any of that with
regard to divorce or anything else, such as a person who is uncertain as to
whether he has divorced his wife or he thinks that if he says a specific
word or thinks about a specific idea, his wife will be divorced -- his wife
is not divorced. 

See the answer to question number
62839 and
83029. 

And Allaah knows best.