Does divorce count if it was said in anger or as a joke?

Divorce uttered jokingly does count, because the Prophet ﷺ said: "There are three things which, whether done in earnest or in jest, are treated as serious: marriage, divorce and taking back (rajʿah)" — narrated by Abū Dāwūd and graded ḥasan. Allah legislated divorce as a deliberate act — "Divorce is twice; then either keep [her] in an acceptable manner or release [her] with good treatment" — so it is not a word to be thrown around. As for anger, the scholars distinguish three states: ordinary annoyance in which a man still knows and intends what he says, and the divorce counts; extreme rage in which he loses awareness of what he is saying, close to insanity, and it does not count; and severe anger driving him to speak without truly intending it, over which there is ikhtilāf, though many verifying scholars (including Ibn al-Qayyim and Ibn ʿUthaymīn) do not count it, based on the Prophet's ﷺ words, "There is no divorce nor manumission under ighlāq (constraint or loss of control)," narrated by Abū Dāwūd and Ibn Mājah and graded ḥasan. Since a man is not a judge in his own case, one who is unsure should present the exact wording and circumstances to a trustworthy scholar or Sharīʿah court rather than assume the easier ruling.

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