A Woman is Forbidden to Her Husband by the Third Divorce

Question :

A man divorced his wife one time, then he traveled outside the country she lived in and he remained absent for about a year. Then he returned and she had not married, so he made a new marriage contract with her and she returned to him, bearing in mind that he did not take her back during the waiting period.

Answer:

If the situation is as described by the questioner, then the marriage is valid, if it was done with a guardian, two just witnesses and the consent of the woman. This is because one divorce does not make the woman forbidden to her husband, nor do two divorces. She only becomes forbidden to him by the third divorce, until she has married another man according to the Islamic Law, and he has had sexual intercourse with her.

This is based upon the saying of Allah, Most Glorified, Most High:
"The divorce is twice, after that either you retain her on reasonable terms or release her with kindness."

Up to His saying:
"And if he has divorced her (the third time), then she is not lawful unto him thereafter until she has married another husband." And what is meant by this last divorce is the third one, according to all of the scholars. And Allah is the Granter of success.

Source:
Ibn Baz
Fatawa Islamiyah, Vol. 6 Pages 72-73