Talaq uttered thrice by a Muslim man on a mobile phone will be considered valid even if his wife is unable to hear it all the three times due to network and other problems, a fresh fatwa has ruled.

This ruling was given by the Darul Ifta, the fatwa department of leading Sunni Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband, in reply to a question posted by a man.

He had asked that in case no witness was present when he uttered talaq over phone, would it be considered valid.

“I angrily said talaq three times to my wife on cellphone but she claimed that she didn't hear it even once, and nobody was around. Please tell me whether the talaq has taken place,” he asked.

In its reply, the Darul Ifta said, “If you have said talaqs thrice to your wife, it is valid.”

The fatwa said the woman would be free to marry after her iddat period (three months after divorce) is over.

“It is not necessary that for talaq to take place the wife hears it or witnesses are present,” it ruled.

In October, the seminary had ruled that saying talaq three times even in jest was valid as per Islamic law.

A youth, in his query, had said that while chatting with his wife over the net he had playfully typed talaq thrice.

Claiming to have little knowledge about Islam, the youth said he didn't know how a talaq was executed.

The youth said he was living happily with his wife and wanted to live with her in future as well.

The Darul Ifta, in its reply, said once talaq was spelt out thrice it amounted to a divorce.

As per the ruling, the woman would be required to complete the iddat period after which she could marry another man. She would be then required to divorce her second husband and go through the iddat period again. “Only then would she be allowed to re-marry her former husband.”