Does khulu’ (divorce by redemption) reduce the number of talaq, and can a husband who had pronounced two talaq and then divorced by khulu’ remarry his former wife?

Summary

Khulu’ is treated as a minor irrevocable divorce (talak ba’in sughra) that reduces the number of talaq, following Imam al-Shafi’i and the preferred view in the Shafi’i school. A first khulu’ leaves the husband with two remaining talaq. For a husband who had pronounced two talaq, reconciled, and then divorced by khulu’, it counts as the third talaq. He is forbidden to take her back or remarry her until she has married another man. The fatwa also notes one narration from Imam Ahmad that regards khulu’ as a fasakh which does not reduce the number of talaq.

Written in our own words from the original fatwa — check the source before acting on it.