CHAPTER 8

DIVORCE IN ISLAM

Islam allows for only one sort of physical relationship between men and women, and that is in the form of marriage, which is announced and publicly known. Differences will inevitably arise between the spouses. According to Islam, the way out is not by seeking to wipe out these differences but, rather, to accept them, to seek to reconcile them or for the spouses to continue to live together despite their differences.

Yet, it sometimes happens that the spouses are unable to manage their differences properly and so decide to go in for a divorce. Divorce has been accepted in Islam as something that can be resorted to in extreme circumstances. However, Islam frowns upon divorce. According to a Hadith, although divorce is permissible, it is the most hateful of the permissible things.

The Quran says that a man can give two revocable utterances of divorce, after which he can retain his wife and stay together on equitable terms or else leave her gracefully (2: 229). This method of divorce over a period of three months was devised so that considerable thought could be given to something as serious as divorce. This ensures that utterances of divorce are a planned step where all possible means of reconciliation are considered.