Is verbal talaq over phone or text message considered valid?

In classical fiqh, talaq does not require the husband and wife to be physically together — a clear, unambiguous pronouncement of talaq made verbally over the phone or in writing (including a text message or WhatsApp message), when it genuinely comes from the husband and clearly communicates his intent to divorce, is generally held to be valid by the majority of scholars and fatwa bodies, Hanafi included. What matters is the clarity of the wording and certainty that it actually originated from the husband, not the medium used to deliver it.

For readers in India, this general fiqh position needs to be read alongside Q2: a single, clear talaq sent by text is not, by itself, what the 2019 Act criminalizes — the Act specifically targets instant triple talaq (three pronouncements meant to take immediate, final effect) delivered by any means including electronic communication. A husband texting or messaging "talaq" three times together, or with clear intent for it to be final and instant, falls squarely within what the law now voids and criminalizes; a single pronouncement by text, followed by the normal iddah process, is a different situation religiously and legally. Given how easily this distinction gets confused in practice, this is a genuine case-by-case matter for a scholar (and where the Act may apply, a lawyer) rather than something to self-diagnose from a general answer.

Source: general Sunni fiqh on talaq via written or electronic communication (see Darul Ifta Birmingham and comparable fatwa-body guidance); Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 on instant triple talaq specifically.