Two Ways of Divorcing

DIVORCE IN ISLAM in a row. The Prophet then observed, “All three count as only one. If you want, you may revoke it.”(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith No. 2196) A man may say “talaq” to his wife three times in a row, in contravention of the Shariah’s prescribed method, thereby sinning, but if he was known to be in an emotionally overwrought state at the time, his act may be considered a mere absurdity arising from human weakness. His three utterances of the word talaq may be taken as an expression of the intensity of his emotions and thus the equivalent of only one such utterance. He is likely to be told that, having transgressed a Shariah Law, he must seek God’s forgiveness, regard his three utterances as only one, and take three months to arrive at his final decision. In the first phase of Islam, however, a different view of divorce was taken by the second Caliph, ‘Umar ibn alKhattab. Imam Muslim thus described an incident that illustrates his viewpoint. In the Prophet’s lifetime, then under the Caliphate of Abu Bakr and during the early period of the Caliphate of ‘Umar, three utterances of talaq on one occasion were taken together as only one utterance. Then it occurred to ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab that even though a system had been laid down which permitted the husband to withdraw his first or even second talaq, men still wanted to rush into divorce. He felt that if they were bent on being hasty, why should not a rule be imposed on them binding them to a