I married a European woman and Allah guided her to Islam. Under the stress of daily life, I divorced her three times even though I didn`t want to. Inside of me, I love her and I am filled with longing for her. I always just used to want to threaten her. So, were these three divorces counted and is she irrevocably divorced? We have a child together and I want to take her back as a wife. I even think about marrying her to another Muslim if she wouldn`t be permissible for me any other way, so that she wouldn`t go back to her non-Muslim family who hate Islam. So what is the verdict in Shari`ah on what I did or what I want to do? In this same vein, what is the verdict on marrying a divorced woman before her `iddah (waiting period) is finished and is there kaffarah (expiation) for that? I hope you can help me and may Allah reward you.

In the name of Allah, all praise is for Allah, and may peace and blessing be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family and true followers. To proceed:

 

If this divorce was according to the Sunnah, meaning while your wife was pure of her menses and before having intercourse with her, the three divorces were effective and she is not permissible for you until she marries a husband other than you. Your effort to help her so that she does not return to her family and be exposed to fitna (temptation) in her religion is a noble thing to do, as long as neither your intention nor her intention is nikah at-tahlil (a marriage of convenience for the purpose of making a woman divorced thrice permissible again for her first husband). Nikah at-tahlil is invalid and forbidden; in fact, Allah has cursed the man who does this and the man for whom it is done. We advise you to directly contact someone nearby who is qualified to give fatawa and explain to him the story of these divorces so that he can help you determine the correct opinion of the Shari`ah. As for marrying a divorced woman before the end of her `iddah, if she was in her waiting period from a revocable divorce, the marriage contract with her in invalid and there is no difference of opinion in this matter because she is still considered a married woman. If she was in her `iddah from an irrevocable divorce, you have committed a sin and you must repent sincerely, but the marriage is valid according to the strongest opinion of the scholars; and Allah Almighty is more exalted and more knowledgeable.