The Issue of Divorce

DIVORCE IN ISLAM The Encyclopaedia Britannica says: “Industrialization has made it easier for women to support themselves, whether single, married, divorced, or widowed. In this connection, it is interesting to note that the Great Depression of the 1930s stopped the rise in divorces in the United States for a time.” (Encyclopaedia Britannica [1984], Vol. 7, pp. 163-164) In the modern age, Western civilization has been beset by many problems, many of which are more artificial than real. Western society has adopted unnatural ways in many things, thus giving rise to unnatural issues. The matter has further been worsened by attempts to solve them unnaturally. Problems have, therefore, gone on increasing instead of decreasing. The problem of divorce is one of them. The initial stimulus of the women’s liberation movement in the West was not wrong, but its leaders did not care to define its limits. In a bid to make a free society, their efforts culminated in the creation of a permissive society. Affairs between men and women knew no limits, and this had the effect of weakening the marriage bond. Men and women were no longer husbands and wives. In the words of the Prophet, they became sensual, pleasure-seeking people. This state of affairs was boosted by industrialization, as a woman could easily procure an independent livelihood. This had never before been possible. Because of this, she has frequently refused to live under the guardianship of men, which, in consequence, has created a large number of social problems, leading to significantly increased rates of divorce. The Western philosophers who wanted to check divorce