Dar Al Iftaa has issued a fatwa forbidding so-called tahleel marriages, or short-term, intermediate marriages in which a man marries a divorced woman for the sole purpose of making it religiously permissible for her to remarry her first husband.

The latest fatwa published on Dar Al Iftaa's official Twitter account condemns such marriages as "sinful," or haram. The fatwa was welcomed by social media activists and women's rights campaigners, the latter of who have long called for an end to the archaic practice that discriminates against women. They are hoping the religious ban on the practice paves the way for legislation criminalizing such marriages in Egypt.    

Under Sharia law, a husband may remarry his wife without preconditions if he divorces her once or twice. If, however, he divorces her a third time, whether orally (by simply uttering the words "I hereby divorce you") or by filing for divorce in court, the divorce is irrevocable.

It is sinful for the couple to wed again after a threefold divorce unless the divorced woman weds another man and that second marriage is consummated. If it so happens that the second marriage also ends in divorce or the death of the second husband, only then can the woman return to her former spouse.