Al-Baqarah Section 28 - Regulation About Divorce
Men not to go near women during the monthly course, Glad-tidings to the believers about their meeting God, Period of waiting for divorced women, Reconciliation after the divorce and reestablishment of conjugal relations.
Al-Baqarah Verses 222 - 228
وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْمَحِيضِ قُلْ هُوَ أَذًى فَاعْتَزِلُوا النِّسَاءَ فِي الْمَحِيضِ وَلَا تَقْرَبُوهُنَّ حَتَّىٰ يَطْهُرْنَ فَإِذَا تَطَهَّرْنَ فَأْتُوهُنَّ مِنْ حَيْثُ أَمَرَكُمُ اللَّهُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ التَّوَّابِينَ وَيُحِبُّ الْمُتَطَهِّرِينَ
“And they ask thee (O’ Our Apostle Muhammad!) concerning menstruation; say, it (is) a pollution, therefore, keep (yourselves) away from women when in menstruation and go not nigh unto them until they be cleansed, then when they are cleansed, go in unto them as God hath ordained unto you; verily, God loveth those who turn unto Him constantly and loveth those who clean themselves” (2:222).
نِسَاؤُكُمْ حَرْثٌ لَكُمْ فَأْتُوا حَرْثَكُمْ أَنَّىٰ شِئْتُمْ وَقَدِّمُوا لِأَنْفُسِكُمْ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّكُمْ مُلَاقُوهُ وَبَشِّرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
“Your women are your tilth, wherefor enter your tillage as ye please and provide in advance for yourselves (for the life hereafter); and take shelter in God, and know ye Beware) that ye are meeting Him (one day); and bear thou (O’ Our Apostle) glad tidings unto the faithful” (2:223).
وَلَا تَجْعَلُوا اللَّهَ عُرْضَةً لِأَيْمَانِكُمْ أَنْ تَبَرُّوا وَتَتَّقُوا وَتُصْلِحُوا بَيْنَ النَّاسِ وَاللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ
“And (O’ ye who believe!) make not (the name of) God in your oaths a hindrance against that ye may do good, and be pious and bring about peace among men; and verily, God is All-Hearing, All-Knowing” (2:224).
لَا يُؤَاخِذُكُمُ اللَّهُ بِاللَّغْوِ فِي أَيْمَانِكُمْ وَلَٰكِنْ يُؤَاخِذُكُمْ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ قُلُوبُكُمْ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ حَلِيمٌ
“God will call you not to account for a thoughtless oath but He will call you to account (for such oaths) what your hearts have earned and God is Oft-Forgiving, the Most Forbearing” (2:225).
لِلَّذِينَ يُؤْلُونَ مِنْ نِسَائِهِمْ تَرَبُّصُ أَرْبَعَةِ أَشْهُرٍ فَإِنْ فَاءُوا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ
“For those who swear to abstain from their wives, is ordained a waiting for four months, and if then they go back (from their oath) then verily God is Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful” (2:226).
وَإِنْ عَزَمُوا الطَّلَاقَ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ
“And if they resolve on divorce then verily God is All-Hearing, All-Knowing” (2:227).
وَالْمُطَلَّقَاتُ يَتَرَبَّصْنَ بِأَنْفُسِهِنَّ ثَلَاثَةَ قُرُوءٍ وَلَا يَحِلُّ لَهُنَّ أَنْ يَكْتُمْنَ مَا خَلَقَ اللَّهُ فِي أَرْحَامِهِنَّ إِنْ كُنَّ يُؤْمِنَّ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَبُعُولَتُهُنَّ أَحَقُّ بِرَدِّهِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ إِنْ أَرَادُوا إِصْلَاحًا وَلَهُنَّ مِثْلُ الَّذِي عَلَيْهِنَّ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَلِلرِّجَالِ عَلَيْهِنَّ دَرَجَةٌ وَاللَّهُ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ
“The divorced women shall await (not wedding anyone else) until three monthly courses; and it shall not be lawful for them to conceal what God hath created in their wombs, if they believe in God and (in) the Last Day (of Judgment): and their husbands shall have the greater right to take them back during the period, if they wish for reconciliation; and for the women shall be similar rights (over men) in fairness, and for men (their rights) on women, is a degree above; and God is Mighty, Wise” (2:228).
Commentary
Verse 222
There had been a similar restriction upon the personal contact between husband and wife when the wife is during her menstruation. Vide Lev. 18/19.
“Also, thou shall not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness.’’
and Lev. 20/18. “And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness, he hath discovered her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them shall be cut off from among their people.”1.
Islam does not speak of the situation in such an open and practically naked way but very gracefully forbids the Muslims even from approaching the women during the course.
When the Word of God (the Holy Qur’an) conveyed to the human race through the Holy Prophet Muhammad warns the faithful even against approaching women during the course of menstruation, one will surely be naturally grieved to know of the great mischief done against the holy personality of the Holy Prophet through a totally and wholly fabricated report in the name of one of the wives of the Holy Prophet given about the conduct of the Holy Apostle of God mentioned in Book of Menstruation of Sahih Bukhari (S.B.).
If the lady had really given the report, it must necessarily be to show the attachment of the Holy Prophet to her to that extent. By doing so, the poor lady has miserably betrayed her own conscience, her own feminine modesty, besides her faithlessness to her husband, who was no less a personality than that of the Prince of the Prophets of God. Such baseless and disgraceful reports, disclose to an intelligent reader as to the kind or the nature of the sources of the information or the belief, on which the School is based, to which the book belongs and the care for the correctness or the scrutiny of the reports the school takes before accepting it. There are many such f Ise, unscrupulous and mischievous reports the shameless nature of the matter as found in the books does not permit its reproduction here for it will mar the sanctity or the grace of this sacred work. One can refer to Sahih Bukhari and its allied works.
The word ‘yathora’ or ‘yattaharna’ both may be taken to mean the cessation of menstruation or the state after ‘ghusl’ ablution2. (A.P.)
‘Min haiso amarakom’ may refer to the natural course of approach on account of the phrase ‘Min haiso’ which may mean ‘as’ or ‘from where’3. (A.P.)
‘Inna Allaha yuhibbu at-tawwabeen’ This refers to the equal importance of cleanliness both mental and physical which is the main object of all Islamic instructions and restrictions as the one is not indispensable of the other. Hence one should not be neglected at the cost of the other. (A.P.)
Verse 223
Of all the matters that concern human life on earth, the matter relating to the sexual relation of one human being with the other, is the most delicate one. The Holy Qur’an deals with the guidance relating to the physical, as well as the moral or the spiritual development of mankind. The Holy Qur’an has dealt with the sexual matter in a language unapproached in its purity and grace by any other religious order in dealing with law pertaining to similar questions. A comparison between the Qur’anic language and the wording of similar passages in the Bible4 or any other religious scriptures will prove the unsurpassed purity of the language of the Holy Qur’an. It must also be remembered that the Holy Qur’an was revealed through the Arabian Prophet who was not educated at the hand of any mortal in the world, at a time when the poets in Arabia prided over naked and shameless expressions of sexual contact and intercourse.
Woman is compared to the tilth. With this comprehensive and meaningful comparison, it has been most eloquently declared that the real or the sole object of conjugal relations between the sexes should not be the satisfaction of the carnal desires but to produce the best possible fruits with purity of body and mind worthy of being acceptable to the service of the Lord. Mother is the basic fountainhead from whom the character and conduct of the issue springs or gets its start. This raises the position of woman and establishes her importance to the human society through the importance of the correct marital relationship.
This verse may be taken as explanatory to the previous one in the sense that in the previous one it is said ‘Do with them as ordained’ and this passage explains the order saying ‘do with your tilth as you like’ meaning in any way and at any time you like but having in mind that they are a tilth and dealing with a tilth in an unuseful way is foolish and detested by law. Though no unnatural approach has been definitely prohibited, yet been discouraged as a foolish and detestable act.
‘Qaddamo li anfosikom’ clearly indicates that in every manner or behaviour man should be mindful to see that his move advances something good for him for his future (or the life after death) and that it does not displease God, and man should always remember that the ultimate object of his is meeting God, and this means a good tiding to the believers and a warning to the unbelievers. (A.P.)
Verse 224
‘Urdah’ is a thing that is set as an obstacle in the way of a thing, a thing set as a butt for archery. It is a warning against swearing every now and then by God, that you will not do such and such a thing, so that you deprive yourselves of doing good, and owing to your swearing by God, you have alleged Him to be an obstacle in the way of doing the good. Whereas God bids you only to do good. Swear not by Allah when you take an oath not to do anything good, for by doing so you are alleging God as the obstacle in the good being done. It is an injunction to abstain from oath in God’s name when you want to refrain from doing anything legal or good. For instance, the oath on the part of a husband in anger, refraining from going to his wife. This verse forbids oaths of this kind5.
The commentators differ in the actual implication of this passage. The simple and the more comprehensive meaning is ‘Do not cheapen the Holy name of God in your swearing to do or not to do any good or bad, nor in any of your compromising effects as such mere verbal swearing has no value whatsoever.’ If one swears not to do something good, he should do it irrespective of the oath or swearing, and evil, he should not do it irrespective of the oath or swearing as explained in the next verse, God will not hold any one accountable for his vain utterance but for his real intentions. Under this principle, Qur’an deals with the particular swearing concerning disassociation with wives wherein Qur’an disregards the swearing and gives the husband four months’ time for reconsideration and thereafter if he decides separation he should resort to divorce, the swearing having no value whatsoever6. (A.P.)
Verse 225
Vain oath means unintentional swearing which some careless persons develop as a habit to swear in ordinary conversation which is not binding upon the swearer.
By what the hearts have earned means oath taken with full consciousness of the seriousness of a swearing - Such an oath gets binding upon the swearer. Provided the subject or the object be something commendable7.
Verse 226
It was an old custom that one swears that he will not go into one’s wife. This custom was called ‘ila.’
Under this custom the wife had to remain in suspense, neither as a married wife nor as a divorced one to be free to wed someone else. Islam fixed the law that if any one takes such an oath, the time limit allowed for the husband to reassert his conjugal rights shall be four months failing which the wife with the decision of the ‘Hakim ash-Shara’i’, i.e., the duly authorized or competent authority of the Islamic law a ‘Mujtahid’ gets herself freed from the bond of the marriage to her husband and be at liberty to wed somebody else.
‘Fa-in Faoo’ i.e. if they go back, meaning if they re-establish their conjugal relations i.e. if the husband re-asserts his conjugal relations after the temporary separation, he is forgiven8.
Verse 227
Talaq i.e. letting free a woman from the marital bond to have her own way i.e. to get separated from her husband meaning the dissolution of the marriage tie. ‘Talaq’ is to be resorted to, under unavoidable circumstances. If the husband decides to divorce, then let him act justly and fairly and let him not be guilty of any excess against the wife for he will be punished. To warn the husband against acting unjustly the epithets of God ‘All-Hearing and All-Knowing,’ are used to keep the man away from any injustice or foul play against his wife.
The special care Islam takes to safeguard the interest of a woman, is noteworthy and is not to be found in any other religious order.
Though ‘Talaq’ i.e. divorce is allowed in Islam when a necessity demands it and this right is to be exercised under unavoidable circumstances, according to the Holy Prophet, of all the things permitted to men, divorce is the most hated by God. This disclosure of God’s hatred will naturally act as a strong check on any indiscriminate use of the unavoidable sanction.
Marriage is a matter of alliance of two individuals emanating from love. An alliance without the attraction of real or genuine love, is a dead letter or a body without soul, and the sooner it is undone the better. In the mutual course of the events in the practical life of a man and a woman, occasions do arise from time to time when marital alliance gets affected by mistaken and false attractions which can never naturally last long and consequently the lives of both the individuals become an intolerable misery and under such circumstances a separation becomes necessary and also an act of charity. Islam being the universal religion for the human race as a whole and for all times to the end of the world, must necessarily have laws with the essential provisions or elasticity, to suit the various situations and cases. It is the all-round perfection of Islam, that has prescribed laws to control the collective order of the human society as well as safeguard the interest of each and every individual under various circumstances.
Divorce, though legalized by Islam, has been so much controlled and restricted strictly to an unavoidable necessity, through innumerable pronouncements of the Holy Prophet warning against the displeasure of God, should the law sanctioning divorce be indiscriminately used, that the cases of divorce in Islam are so rare that it can safely be said that divorce in the practice of the Islamic society is almost absent. Whereas the law of divorce evolved by the Jews and the Christians is so loose and extends to such trifling cases that it has given rise to the Special Divorce Courts whose proceedings have continued to furnish a mass of scandalous reading matter for the quick and the extensive sale of the newspapers. Divorce though allowed by Islam is so much discouraged and the indiscriminate use of it so much expressly disapproved by God and the Holy Prophet that it should make even the most reckless character among the Muslims to shudder against enacting it.
Verse 228
‘Qurno’ i.e. course of menstruation. Three courses of menstruation have been fixed on ‘‘Iddah’ i.e. a temporary separation during which conjugal relation between the husband and the wife may be re-established, for if there be any love between the two individuals its pangs would surely assert themselves during this period of separation and will possibly bring about a reconciliation. These chances of reconciliation and also the binding upon the husband to provide for the divorced wife during the ‘‘Iddah’ period serves for the purpose of finding out, beyond all doubts, if the wife has undergone any conception by her divorcing husband to establish the parental propriety over the issue. All these conditions are known only to Islam which also speak of its perfection as a revealed religion.
The details relating to the law of ‘Talaq’ i.e. divorce contained in the book of Islamic law will further speak of the perfection of the religious order and the divine wisdom manifesting from the various regulations.
Islam establishes the rights of a wife over her husband as the husband has his rights over his wife. The establishment of the rights of a woman over a man, legally’ allowed to her, is another unique feature of Islam which no other religious order has ever thought of it. On the other hand, all the other religions have looked down upon woman as a wicked being, as an agent of the devil. The sudden change in the status of woman against the most degraded position of a mere chattel, hitherto confined to the helpless depth of mere unconditional servitude, was a highly dynamic and a really revolutionizing one which was unknown to the history of the religious orders of the world for the equality of the rights of women as of men, was never till now recognized by any people in any country’ or by any’ social or religious reformer.
The concluding part of the verse:
وَلِلرِّجَالِ عَلَيْهِنَّ دَرَجَةٌ وَاللَّهُ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ
“And the men are a degree above them, and God is Mighty, Wise” (2:228).
This part of the verse speaks of the Psychic phenomena of individual differences. The same natural difference plays its role from sex to sex.
None can deny the self-evident fact of the native weaknesses in the fair sex and the superior physical and mental qualities that providence has endowed in man, which undoubtedly the woman lacks. It is this native factor in man which entitles him to call for obedience from his wife. In the matter of divorce, man can at his independent choice decide about the separation whereas woman cannot exercise her judgment.
She can go to the ‘Qazi’ for a flagrant case of maltreatment, when it becomes unbearable for her and demands separation or a dissolution of the marital bond surrendering her right for ‘Mahr’ i.e., dowry. The latter part of the sanction i.e. surrender of the Mahr, no doubt seems to be an unfortunate feature of the law, but in view of the common weaknesses among women, it is an essential check upon a woman easily resorting to a separation.
There is one important factor one should never lose sight of; that is Islam gives woman the right of choosing her partner in life, by holding for herself the right of offering herself to a man or not, and man has only to accept the offer from the woman, to be his wife and partner in life. None can ever compel any woman to offer herself or accept any’ man as her husband, unless she herself independently decides and acts in the matter. Once exercising the right of the choice, she cannot also have the right to undo the wedlock at her own whim and fancy. But she has been given the safeguard of obtaining the desirable relief through the ‘Hakim ash-Shara’i’ or the accredited or authentic Administrator of the law called the ‘Mujtahid.’
The verse ends with the words ‘God is Almighty, All-wise’ indicating warning against any indiscriminate judgment or action for it is declared that God is well able to punish the guilty and He knows everything manifest and concealed9.
The ending clause asserts the right of woman similar to that of man. As established among the human beings the only point is the recognition of man’s superiority to some extent, particularly in the case of divorce, woman has not been given the right of withdrawal from the marital bond initiatively by herself. And in the case of judgment and evidence also she has not been equalised with man. (A.P.)
