What is "triple talaq" and how do classical and modern scholars view it?

Triple talaq usually refers to a husband pronouncing the words "I divorce you" three times in a single sitting, intending to instantly and irrevocably end the marriage rather than going through the staged process the Quran describes. Historically, during the time of the Prophet and the early caliphate of Abu Bakr, such a triple pronouncement was treated as only one revocable divorce, preserving the possibility of reconciliation. During Umar's caliphate, faced with men abusing the staged system by issuing three declarations carelessly, he ruled that such pronouncements would be counted as three and made binding immediately, as a deterrent, and most classical schools of law subsequently adopted this stricter position. In modern times, many reformist scholars, along with several national legal systems, have revisited the issue, arguing that Umar's ruling was a discretionary, circumstance-specific policy rather than an unchangeable law, and that reverting to counting it as one revocable divorce better reflects the Quran's own graduated approach and protects women from impulsive, harmful pronouncements. Several countries, including India through legislation, and various Islamic authorities elsewhere, have restricted or invalidated instant triple talaq altogether.

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