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yā-ʾayyuhā n-nabiyyu ʾidhā ṭallaqtumu n-nisāʾa fa-ṭalliqūhunna li-ʿiddatihinna wa-ʾaḥṣū l-ʿiddata wa-ttaqū llāha rabbakum lā tukhrijūhunna min buyūtihinna wa-lā yakhrujna ʾillā ʾan yaʾtīna bi-fāḥishatin mubayyinatin wa-tilka ḥudūdu llāhi wa-man yataʿadda ḥudūda llāhi fa-qad ẓalama nafsahū lā tadrī laʿalla llāha yuḥdithu baʿda dhālika ʾamran
O Prophet! When you divorce women, divorce them at [the conclusion of] their term and calculate the term, and be wary of Allah, your Lord. Do not turn them out from their homes, nor shall they go out, unless they commit a gross indecency. These are Allah’s bounds, and whoever transgresses the bounds of Allah certainly wrongs himself. You never know maybe Allah will bring off something new later on.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah al-Talaq – Verse 1
1. O Prophet! When you divorce women, divorce them at their prescribed periods [i.e. while not menstruating and not having sexual intercourse with their husbands] and count their periods. And fear Allah, your Lord. And turn them not out of your homes nor shall they leave, except in case they are guilty of some open illegal act. And those are the set limits of Allah and whosoever transgresses the limits set by Allah, he has wronged himself. You know not; it may be that Allah will afterward bring some new thing to pass.
Divorce is subject to certain conditions and specific rules and ethical principles. Likewise, there are certain requirements for confrontation with enemies and Muslims are not supposed to poison the drinking water, destroy the trees, and wrong children, women, and senior citizens. Significant factors leading to divorce include the partners’ mistreatment of each other. It is narrated from Imam ‘Ali (as) that bad temper hurts one’s family.2 The blessed Chapter mainly treats of divorce with which it opens by addressing the Noble Prophet of the Islamic faith (S) as the great leader of the Islamic community and states the general ruling by a plural verbal form, saying:
It is the first Injunction from amongst the five Injunctions mentioned in this blessed Verse. The Qur’anic exegetes maintain that the blessed Verse makes a reference to the ruling as per which the divorce formula should be uttered when the woman is neither menstruating nor had sexual intercourse with her husband. It is mentioned elsewhere in the Holy Qur’an3 that the prescribed time is specified as the passage of three menstrual periods (thalatha quru’). The blessed Verse in question emphasizes that giving divorce should follow the period of not having menstruation.
In other words, giving divorce is solely possible at the time of the woman’s not having the menstrual period, since in case divorce is given at the time of menstruation, the beginning of the waiting period (‘idda) will be separated from the beginning of the divorce and the beginning of the waiting period follows the period of not menstruating. Likewise, in case the woman is not menstruating while having sexual intercourse with her husband, such not menstruating may not indicate that semen has not been ejaculated into the uterus. At any rate, it is the first requirement for giving divorce.
According to numerous Prophetic traditions, in case a man divorces his wife while she is menstruating, the divorce will be invalidated until the consummation of her waiting period.4Traditions narrated from the Noble Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt recurrently bear testimony to the same and even it is mentioned as the exegesis of the blessed Verse in question.5 The blessed Verse proceeds to treat of the second ruling concerning counting the waiting period, saying:
The blessed Verse urges Muslims to carefully attend to waiting period consisting of the passage of three menstrual periods ending in the beginning of the third period. Failure to attend to the point in question may result in going to the extreme in counting the required number of days and the woman may thereby incur some loss, since she may be deterred from remarriage. Counting less than the required days may adversely affect the bounds of wedlock through failure to attend to the congelation of semen in the womb.
The imperative verbal form
deriving from the root h-s-y, is cognate with hasa ("pebble"), since it was common among ancient illiterate peoples to keep records of different things by counting with pebbles. It is worthy of note, however, that men are herein addressed as those responsible for counting the waiting period, since they are responsible for providing women with alimony and accommodation expenses. The right to the revocation of divorce and remarriage is also vested with men, though women are also obliged to keep a precise record of their waiting periods.
The blessed Verse proceeds to call all people to the fear of God Almighty, the Lord and Fosterer of all the world of existence whose Injunctions guarantees happiness. Thus, it is incumbent upon mankind to act upon His Injunctions and refrain from disobedience to His Commands. In this respect, particular attention is to be accorded to giving divorce and counting the days of the waiting period. The third and the fourth Injunctions concern the husbands and the wives respectively, saying:
"Do not drive them out of their homes and they, i.e., the women, are not supposed to leave their homes during the waiting period.”
It is worthy of note, however, that many ignorant people do not act upon such Injunction and upon uttering the divorce formula such ignorant men drive the women out of their homes and women imagine that they are free to return to their relatives’ homes. Nonetheless, such Islamic ruling embodies a very significant point since besides paying respect to women, the ruling paves the way for the husband to revoke the divorce and strengthen the bonds of matrimony.
Failure to accord attention to such Islamic ruling which is attested in the Holy Qur’an leads many a matrimony to lead in permanent break up, though if the ruling were acted upon, it would entail settlement. However, under certain circumstances women may not at times stay at their homes, as a consequence of which, the fifth Injunction, serving as an exception to the rule, is mentioned as per which women are obliged to refrain from committing open evil acts, e.g. mistreatment and slandering their husbands and their in-laws leading to further problems at home.
In this vein, numerous traditions have been narrated from the Imams.6 It is noteworthy that any insignificant issue is not herein intended, since the Arabic word fahisha denotes a significant vice and it is described by the adjective mubayyina ("open, evident"). The word fahisha may also connote transgression of bounds, substantiated by a tradition narrated from Imam Sadiq (as), designating driving out for being chastised and then returning home. Both interpretations are possible.
The blessed Verse emphasizes according attention to Divine limits, saying that whoever transgresses the limits set by God Almighty has wrong himself, since these Injunctions guarantee the interests of the obliged and failure to act upon them by either men or women adversely affects their happiness. The blessed Verse closes by a delicate allusion to the reasons lying behind the observance of the waiting period and the obligation of the women to stay at their homes, saying that you do not know, though God Almighty may bring some new things to pass thereby leading to some means of settlement.
The point is that the explosive fits of rage leading to taking hasty decisions concerning separation subsides in time and the presence of women at home during their waiting period reminds them of the evil consequence of divorce, particularly when they have children, and when one of them expresses their affection for the other, it may pave the path for their settlement and thereby the leaden clouds of hatred may be scattered. It would be of interest to make mention of a tradition narrated from Imam Baqir (as) as per which the divorced woman at the time of the waiting period may wear make-up, perfume, and beautiful clothes, since God Almighty says that He may make new things pass such that women may win the affections of their husbands and the latter may consent to remarry them.7
As mentioned above, making decisions as to separation and divorce are consequent to fleeting excitements which may alter with the passage of time and the association of the partners during a relatively long period of time, i.e. the waiting period, and thus the stage may be set for settlement, provided that the aforesaid Islamic rulings concerning the woman’s permanent stay at the ex-husband’s home be strictly observed. God willingly mention will be mentioned below of the pint that such issues all concern the revocable divorce (talaq rij‘i).
Now we turn to the reasons lying behind the observance of the waiting period as mentioned in the Holy Qur’an and Islamic traditions. Firstly, mention is to be made of the significance of such observance with regards to survival and pregnancy. The second issue at hand concerns the revocation of the divorce and removing the obstacles leading to separation to which a delicate allusion is made in the blessed Verse in question. Islam lays emphasis on the point that during the waiting period, the divorced woman is supposed to stay at the ex-husband’s home as a consequence of which they associate for a period of several months that provides them with the opportunity to think about their separation free from fleeting excitements.
Another point is that the ex-husband may revoke the divorce without facing any impediment and any word or deed on the part man suggesting his inclination toward the revocation of the divorce may urge him to remarry his ex-wife. However, in case they fail to reach any settlement as to resuming their matrimony, they had better separate and make a move in their lives. In this vein, it is narrated from the Noble Prophet of the Islamic faith (S) that it would be far befitting before God Almighty when a husband stays with his wife than seeking seclusion at a mosque.8
One of the significant factors leading to divorce is the partners’ mistreatment of each other. It is narrated from Imam ‘Ali (as) that whoever is a bad tempered man hurts his family.9 Islam enjoins that when differences emerge between a husband and a wife, sympathetic people are supposed to be selected to serve as arbiters so that they may attend to the differences and make attempts at their removal. Thus, the partners may reach some settlement and there would be no need for referring to the court of justice and applying for divorce.
It is mentioned elsewhere in the Holy Qur’an10 that
According to the Islamic law, two just witnesses are supposed to attend the session in which decisions are taken for separation and bear witness to the same. Attending such witnesses may serve as an impediment to divorce, since people, owing the hideousness of divorce in the society, refrain from bearing witness for such instances leading to breaking up of families. Secondly, those urged to serve as witnesses to divorce endeavor to make the partners reach some settlement.
Mention will be made hereunder of some traditions on the hideousness of divorce. It is narrated from the Noble Prophet of the Islamic faith (S) that no act is more hideous before God Almighty than the destruction of the pillars of a home through separation, namely divorce.11 It is also narrated from the Noble Prophet (S):
"Marry and do not divorce, since divorce makes the Divine Throne tremble. 12
It is narrated from Imam Sadiq (as) that before God Almighty, no lawful issue is more hideous than divorce.13 Imam Sadiq (as) is narrated as saying:
"It would be unbecoming of women to neglect their appearance and good looks which sweeten matrimonial life. 14
Hasan ibn Jahm narrates that he was surprised to see Imam Kathim (as) having dyed his hair. Noticing his surprise, the Noble Imam (as) said:
"The husband’s comely appearance urges women to be chaster and some women turn away from chastity owing to their husbands’ neglect in having a good appearance. Likewise, men do not favor to see their wives without adornment. 15
Imam Baqir (as) is narrated as saying:
"A divorced woman staying at her ex-husband’s home is supposed to wear make-up, perfume, and the beautiful clothes so that they may make decisions with further insight and the husband may thereby revoke the divorce and they may resume their married life. 16
Islam enjoins men and women to abstain from looking at those outside the circle of close kinship (namahram) aiming at taking pleasure. Women are also urged to cover themselves from being looked at by those outside the circle of close kinship and refrain from attracting the attention of strangers. Imam Sadiq (as) is narrated as saying that a brief glance, many a time, may entail regret.17The Noble Imam (as) is also narrated as saying that it is incumbent upon men to be chaste with regard to women so that your women’s chastity may be preserved.18
It is also narrated from Imam Sadiq (as) that some women deviate from the path of chastity owing to their husbands’ neglect of their appearance.19 Numerous traditions have been narrated from the Noble Prophet (S) and the Ahl al-Bayt (as) with regard to marriage, divorce, and matrimonial life for which reference may be made to tradition sources.
Footnotes