Why divorced woman has to marry again?
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's
Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)
One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:
Salaam
Kindly explain the reasons as to why an irrevocably divorced muslimah needs to
marry another man before she can remarry her ex-husband. It would also be nice
to know when this law was passed and the circumstances pertaining to this
condition.
May ALLAH reward you for the great service that you are contributing to Islam
and humanity.
AAmeen
You`rs in Islam
Fee amaani-ALLAH
(There
may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum
does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from
our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)
Answer:
Why divorced woman has to marry again?
In the
name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness.
Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray,
none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no
person, no grave, no prophet, no imam,
no dai, nobody!) worthy of
worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His
slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
May Allah
Subhanah reward you with the best of this world and the Hereafter for your kind
comments of encouragement for our humble efforts in the propagation of the
Truth. If our humble and modest
efforts have helped even one brother or sister get closer to Allah and His Deen
of Truth, then we would consider ourselves indeed fortunate to have been given
this opportunity by the Lord Most Merciful to serve in His Cause. We hope,
beg, and pray the Merciful
Lord accepts our humble and weak
efforts, forgives us our
shortcomings, and saves you, us, and all the believers from the torment of the
Hell Fire. Ameen.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verses 229-231:
229 A divorce is only
permissible twice: after that the parties should either hold together
on equitable terms or separate with kindness.
It is not lawful for you (men) to take back any of your gifts (from your
wives) except when both parties fear that they would be unable to keep the
limits ordained by Allah. If ye (judges)
do indeed fear that they would be unable to keep the limits ordained by Allah
there is no blame on either of them if she give something for her freedom.
These are the limits ordained by Allah; so do not transgress them. If any do transgress the limits ordained by
Allah such persons wrong (themselves as well as others).
230 So if a husband
divorces his wife (irrevocably) he cannot after that remarry her until after
she has married another husband and he has divorced her. In that case there is no blame on either of
them if they reunite provided they feel that they can keep the limits ordained
by Allah. Such are the limits ordained
by Allah which He makes plain to those who understand.
231 When ye divorce women and
they fulfil the term of their (`Iddat) either take them back on equitable terms
or set them free on equitable terms; but do not take them back to injure them
or to take undue advantage; if anyone does that He wrongs his own soul. Do not treat Allah's Signs as a jest
but solemnly rehearse Allah's favors on you and the fact that He sent down to
you the Book and Wisdom for your instruction.
And fear Allah and know that Allah is well acquainted with all things.
Your
Question: Kindly explain the reasons as to why an irrevocably divorced muslimah
needs to marry another man before she can remarry her ex-husband. It would also be nice to know when this law
was passed and the circumstances pertaining to this condition.
The divorce laws in 2:229-230, whereby Allah declared it illegal for a man to
marry his irrevocably divorced wife, was revealed to protect the rights of the
woman and reform a serious social evil common in
Thus
Allah Subhanah revealed this law to protect the rights of the woman, so that
she would not become a play and jest in the hands of the man! In the days of
ignorance the man was allowed to pronounce the divorce as many times as he
willed, and then when it suited him, marry her again! This law absolutely shut the door of the
husband’s cruelty. During his whole
married life, a husband was given the right to divorce and re-unite with his
wife only twice. After that, whenever he
pronounces a divorce for the third time, the divorce would be considered
irrevocable and he could not marry her again unless she chose to marry someone
else, and of his own free will, the new husband divorced her, or died.
The law
was revealed to protect the rights of the woman, and warn the husband of the
fear that he will lose his right to marry her forever if he decides to divorce
his wife for the third time. Divorce was
thus make a serious affair in Islam, whereby everytime there is a disagreement
or issue in the marriage, the husband and wife should seek an amicable solution
rather than reaching to use the divorce weapon as a tool to solve the
disagreement.
The main
wisdom behind this two-divorces-remarriage and three-divorce-as-final law of
Shariah is to protect the rights of the women in Islam. The man is not allowed to use the power of
divorce laid upon him by Allah to harass the women, or use the divorce as a joke or play. With this three-divorce-is-final law, the man is forced to take a well-thought and
responsible decision before he decides to divorce his wife. And if the man misuses his rights of
divorce, and pronounces the maximum
allowable three divorces, he has to bear
the consequences that he will not be able to change his mind after that, nor remarry the woman unless she chooses to
marry someone else and her new husband divorces her. or dies.
Whatever
written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance,
and whatever of error is of me. Allah
Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.
Your Brother in Islam,
Burhan
Wister