What Is The Judgment About Someone Who Deliberately Makes A False Statement As To He Had Divorced His Wife Although He Is Still Married?

What is the judgment about someone who deliberately makes a false statement as to he had divorced his wife although he is still married?

According to Hanafi and Shafiʽi madhhabs, someone who is asked whether he had divorced his wife and who replies “yes” even though he is still married is not considered divorced (Ibn Nujaym, al Bahr, III, 264; Shirbini, Mughni al-Muhtaj, III, 379).

However, one should be very careful while uttering a word in subjects such as nikah and divorce and always remember the following hadith that is narrated from Prophet Muhammad (saw), “There are three things which, whether undertaken seriously or in jest, are treated as serious: Marriage, divorce and taking back a wife” (Abu Dawud, Talaq, 10).

Source: Presidency Of Religious Affairs The Turkey, High Board of Religious Affairs FATWA