CONCERNING DIVORCE

7. Concerning divorce ~ 161 ~ Once a man and a woman are tied together in the bonds of matrimony, they are expected to do their utmost, till the day they die to honor and uphold what the Qur’an calls their firm contract, or piedge.139 To this end, the full thrust of the shari’ah is levelled at preventing the occurrence of divorce; the laws it lays down in this regard exist primarily, therefore, as checks, not incentives. Islam regards marriage as an extremely desirable institution, hence its conception of marriage as the rule of life, and divorce only as an exception to that rule. According to a hadith, the Prophet Muhammad said, “Marriage is one of my sunnah (way). One who does not follow it does not belong to me.”140 Although Islam permits divorce, it lays great emphasis on its being a concession, and a measure to be resorted to only when there is no alternative. Seeing it in this light, the Prophet Muhammad said, “Of all things permitted, divorce is the most hateful in the sight of God.”141 When a man and a woman live together as husband and wife, it is but natural that they should have their differences, it being a biological and