Is khul' a divorce or a dissolution?
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Question:
The army case: does it count as a divorce? And if he divorced her, can he take her back during the waiting period?
Answer:
This is a matter of scholarly disagreement among the scholars. It was said that khul' (divorce at the wife's request for compensation) is a dissolution of the marriage and not a divorce, so it does not reduce the number of divorces. It was also said that it is a divorce, so it does reduce the number of divorces. The correct view is that it is a dissolution and not a divorce, because Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Baqarah 2:229] [Al-Baqarah 2:229] He said after that: [Al-Baqarah 2:230] meaning the third divorce.
This indicates that khul' is not a divorce, because if it were a divorce, it would become the third divorce, and His saying "if he divorces her" would become a fourth divorce, which is not possible. This indicates that khul' is not a divorce, but rather a dissolution, and it does not reduce the number of divorces. This is what Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) derived from the verse.
The army case: does it count as a divorce? And if he divorced her, can he take her back during the waiting period?
Answer:
This is a matter of scholarly disagreement among the scholars. It was said that khul' (divorce at the wife's request for compensation) is a dissolution of the marriage and not a divorce, so it does not reduce the number of divorces. It was also said that it is a divorce, so it does reduce the number of divorces. The correct view is that it is a dissolution and not a divorce, because Allah the Exalted said:
Divorce is twice. Then, either keep [her] in an acceptable manner or release [her] with good treatment.
الطَّلَاقُ مَرَّتَانِ فَإِمْسَاكٌ بِمَعْرُوفٍ أَوْ تَسْرِيحٌ بِإِحْسَانٍAnd it is not lawful for you to take anything of what you have given them unless both fear that they will not be able to keep [within] the limits of Allah. But if you fear that they will not keep [within] the limits of Allah, then there is no blame upon either of them concerning that by which she ransoms herself. These are the limits of Allah, so do not transgress them. And whoever transgresses the limits of Allah
وَلَا يَحِلُّ لَكُمْ أَن تَأْخُذُوا مِمَّا آتَيْتُمُوهُنَّ شَيْئًا إِلَّا أَن يَخَافَا أَلَّا يُقِيمَا حُدُودَ اللَّهِ فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلَّا يُقِيمَا حُدُودَ اللَّهِ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْهِمَا فِيمَا افْتَدَتْ بِهِ تِلْكَ حُدُودُ اللَّهِ فَلَا تَعْتَدُوهَا وَمَن يَتَعَدَّ حُدُودَ اللَّهِ فَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُAnd if he has divorced her [for the third time], then she is not lawful to him afterward
فَإِن طَلَّقَهَا فَلَا تَحِلُّ لَهُ مِن بَعْدُThis indicates that khul' is not a divorce, because if it were a divorce, it would become the third divorce, and His saying "if he divorces her" would become a fourth divorce, which is not possible. This indicates that khul' is not a divorce, but rather a dissolution, and it does not reduce the number of divorces. This is what Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) derived from the verse.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 54 من 89|شرح العدة في شرح العمدة|كتاب الصداق|باب القسم والنشوز|صالح الفوزان|الفقه|كبار العلماء — youtube.com (1:06:14)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.