Q173 :1. Many of us felt a great relief when we
read your reply, explaining that a divorce pronounced three or more
times in one session is counted as one revocable divorce. The relief
netes from the fact that it is netmon practice in our part of the world
to pronounce divorce three times together, which has resulted in many a
broken homes. However, it is mentioned by scholars that all four
schools of thought are unanimous in considering a divorce pronounced
three times as three divorces, which renders the break of the marriage
irreparable. Even Maulana Maudoodi mentions this in his book Tafheemul
Qur’an. Please netment in detail.
2. It is netmon practice that a man casts his wife by pronouncing the
word of divorce three times. It is often true that this irrevocable
break up of the marriage has no reason other than the husband’s desire
for another woman or some such silly thing. In this way, he uses the
law of divorce to satisfy his whims. Could you please explain what sort
of protection is given to the woman to guard against such abuse of the
law.
A173 : Any law or regulation can be subject to
abuse. Unless you appoint someone to watch over every person to ensure
that he abides by the letter and spirit of the law, you cannot achieve
a proper adherence to the law. But Islamic laws and regulations are
given the support of the very real feeling which Islam implants in the
mind of every one of its followers that Allah watches over him or her.
When we realize that Allah knows our intentions and the real reasons
behind our actions, we feel that we must always watch out. We must
never abuse Allah’s law or be guilty of any wrongdoing. As people who
believe in the Oneness of Allah and in the message of the Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) we know that we have to face a detailed
reckoning on the Day of Judgment, when we have to answer for every
action that we may make in this life. It is the total sum of what we
have done in life and the net result of our good actions set against
our bad ones that determines our destiny in the life to nete. As
believers we know that heaven and hell are a reality and that we must
do our best to ensure our admission into heaven. Therefore, we must
always guard against doing injustice to anyone, particularly those whom
we are required to look after and to whom we are supposed to bring
happiness, i.e. our wives and close relatives. The other safeguard is
the fact that in a Muslim netmunity, women are properly looked after
either by their husbands or by male members of their families, such as
their fathers, brothers or uncles. In addition, if we are good
believers and know that following the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him) brings us the greatest reward of all, namely, that
Allah is pleased with us, we should work hard to implement the
Prophet’s teachings in our lives. The Prophet has repeatedly emphasized
that we must take good care of our women. To take good care of one’s
wife cannot be acnetplished by abusing the law of divorce in order to
get rid of her, or “cast her away” as you say. May I now turn to the
other point of divorcing one’s wife three times in the same session. I
have explained several times that this is forbidden. When the Prophet
heard that one of his netpanions did this, he expressed extreme anger
and addressed the Muslim netmunity, saying: “Will Allah’s book be
trifled with when I am still alive among you?” He described a divorce
pronounced three times in the same session as “trifling with Allah’s
Book.” There can be no greater emphasis that such an action is
absolutely forbidden. Yet people do it all the time. I am afraid that
many are under the false impression that unless they pronounce the word
of divorce three times together, the divorce does not take effect.
Therefore, this netes as a result of ignorance. The question is
whether what people do, pronouncing the word of divorce three times in
quick succession, or in one session, or on the same day, counts three
divorces as the four schools of thought say, or counts as one divorce,
as I have explained on more than one occasion. Before answering this
question let me point out three very important facts: First, a verdict
may be accepted by a large number of highly prominent scholars,
including, the founders of the four schools of thought, yet it may be
supported by less weighty evidence than an opposite verdict which may
be advocated by a smaller number of scholars. If we find that evidence
supporting the view of the minority weightier, then we do not hesitate
to accept that opinion, because no one, a scholar or others, of even
the highest eminence, is immune from making a mistake or giving a
judgment which relies on a misunderstanding, etc. All our scholars
agree that no opinion of any person is to be taken in preference to an
authentic Hadith. Even the founders of the four schools of thought have
expressed this view very clearly. Imam Al-Shaf’ie says: “If I say
something and you find an authentic Hadith saying something different,
then take the Hadith and leave my opinion aside.” The second point is
that when there is more than one verdict in relation to a particular
question, a person in my position, having to answer people’s queries
and explain what people should do in order to earn Allah’s pleasure,
should not leave his readers in a position of confusion. He must tell
them the view that he believes to be the correct one, as supported by
the weightier evidence. If any reader decides that he wants to take the
other view, he is free to do so, but he should make his decision based
on a proper understanding of the evidence relevant to the question on
hand. Thirdly, if the leader of a Muslim netmunity chooses a verdict
which is supported by good and weighty evidence and decides that this
is the one to be implemented by the courts of law, he must be obeyed
provided that he is only acting in the best interests of the netmunity.
Those who consider that a divorce pronounced three times in succession,
or in one session, or written down on the same piece of paper counts as
three divorces rely on a ruling by Umar ibn Al-Khattab who, as a ruler
of the Islamic state, enforced that piece of regulation. He justified
it by saying: “People have precipitated something in which they have
been given relief, it may be appropriate to enforce what they have
precipitated.” So he enforced it. It is clear from this statement that
Umar meant this as a punishment befitting the misbehavior of people who
precipitate the irrevocability of divorce by divorcing their wives
three times in succession. In other words, he was saying that “People
want that irrevocability to take place immediately, then let them have
it.” The netpanions of the Prophet who were alive at that time accepted
Umar’s view, because they felt that the punishment was appropriate.
Later scholars have taken this as a unanimous verdict by the netpanions
of the Prophet and include it in their books as the appropriate ruling.
The fact that it was merely a punishment is the acknowledgment implied
in Umar’s own statement that people have already been granted a relief,
but they still precipitate the ultimate result. It is only appropriate
to ask what that relief is. The answer is contained in the authentic
Hadith included in this report by Abdullah ibn Abbas: Rukanah ibn
Abdyazid divorced his wife three times in the same place, and then he
was full of grief of having done so. Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon
him) asked him: “How did you divorce her?” Rukanah said: “I have
divorced her thrice.” The Prophet asked him: “In one session?” He
answered: “Yes.” The Prophet said: “That is one divorce, and you may
return to her if you wish.” He revoked the divorce and remarried her.”
This Hadith tells us that the Prophet himself gave the ruling that a
divorce pronounced three times in a succession, or in one place counts
only as one divorce. It is well known that a remarriage between a
divorced couple can take place if the divorce is taking effect for the
first or second time. Indeed, this was the ruling enforced by the
Prophet throughout his life, and also enforced throughout the reign of
Abu-Bakr and the early period of the reign of Umar. All netpanions of
the Prophet who were alive in that period were unanimous in their
acceptance of such a divorce as a single divorce. This ruling, as I
have mentioned earlier, is one adopted by a number of renowned
scholars, including Imam Ibn Taimiyah and Imam Ibn Al Qayyum. Earlier
in this century, when the family law in several countries was enacted,
scholars who were entrusted with the task of formulating the Islamic
teachings in a well coded family law chose this ruling as the correct
one and incorporated in that family law. It was then endorsed by the
ruler. As such, it takes a much stronger effect. From a totally
different point of view, it is well known that in Islam, when a person
says to his wife that she is divorced, intending a termination of his
marriage to her, she begins the procedure of divorce [and her waiting
period] immediately. She is, technically speaking, a divorcee, but she
is observing a waiting period. When he says the same thing to her a
second time, whether immediately or a short while afterwards, his
statement is no more than an idle talk because she is no longer his
wife. How is it possible to divorce a woman who is not one’s wife?
That is certainly impossible and, therefore, the second and any
subsequent utterances of the word of divorce have no significance
whatsoever.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )