Praise be to Allaah.
If a man divorces his wife three times, she is not
permissible for him until she has been married to another husband, because
Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And if he has divorced her (the third time), then she is
not lawful unto him thereafter until she has married another husband. Then,
if the other husband divorces her, it is no sin on both of them that they
reunite, provided they feel that they can keep the limits ordained by Allâh.
These are the limits of Allâh, which He makes plain for the people who have
knowledge”
[al-Baqarah 2:230].
And it is essential that the second husband have intercourse
with her; if no intercourse takes place between them, she does not become
permissible for the first husband.
The scholars are unanimously agreed on that, and the evidence
for that from the Sunnah is the report narrated by al-Bukhaari (2639) and
Muslim (1433) from ‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), that Rifaa‘ah
divorced his wife for the third time, and after that she married ‘Abd
al-Rahmaan ibn al-Zubayr, and claimed that he had not consummated the
marriage with her and she wanted to get divorced from him and go back to her
first husband. The Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
said: “Do you want to go back to Rifaa‘ah? No, not until you taste his (‘Abd
al-Rahmaan’s) sweetness and he tastes your sweetness.”
Al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
The words of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him), “not until you taste his sweetness and he tastes your sweetness”
are a metaphor for intercourse, likening its pleasure to the sweetness of
honey.
In this hadeeth we see that the woman who has been divorced
three times is not permissible for the one who divorced her until she has
been married to another husband, and he has intercourse with her, then he
divorces her and her ‘iddah comes to an end. As for merely doing the
marriage contract with her, that does not make her permissible for the first
husband. This is the view of all the scholars among the Sahaabah and
Taabi‘een and those who came after them, except Sa‘eed ibn al-Musayyib;
perhaps this hadeeth did not reach him. End quote.
Ibn Qudaamah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
After the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
clearly explained what was meant in the Book of Allah, may He be exalted,
and that she is not permissible for the first husband until the second
husband tastes her sweetness and she tastes his sweetness, no differing view
should be given any consideration and it is not permissible for anyone to
follow a different view.
End quote from al-Mughni, 10/549
If there is an agreement with the second husband that he will
marry her in order to make her permissible for her first husband, or if the
second husband intends that without any prior agreement with anyone, and he
does not want to marry her (except for this purpose) or stay with her, then
this is a tahleel marriage, and the Messenger of Allah (sa) cursed the one
who does that. The woman does not become permissible to her first husband by
means of this haraam marriage, even if the second husband has intercourse
with her.
Ibn Qudaamah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
Tahleel marriage is haraam and is invalid according to most
scholars. … If it is stipulated that it is tahleel before the marriage
contract is done, but it is not mentioned in the marriage contract, or he
intended it as a tahleel marriage without that being stipulated, then the
marriage is also invalid.
End quote from al-Mughni, 10/49-51
If the intention is on the part of the woman only, and no
agreement to that effect was made with the second husband and he did not
intend it to be a tahleel marriage, then the marriage is valid and she
becomes permissible thereby for the first husband, if the second husband
consummates the marriage with her then divorces her or dies, and the woman’s
intention does not have any effect on that.
This has been explained in the answer to question no.
159041.
But the fact that she is giving money to this man so that he
will agree to this marriage contract indicates that he is aware of the
intention of tahleel and that he does not want to marry her at all, so by
accepting that he is like a borrowed billy-goat, who comes between the
divorced spouses to make her permissible for her first husband.
See also the answer to question no.
76324.
And Allah knows best.