From the customs and tribal traditions of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance
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Fatwa number ( 18533 )
Q: Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Hujurat 49:13] the verse. Your Eminence: We are students of knowledge from one of the tribes of the south, and as Your Eminence is aware, ignorance is widespread and there are few who advise in the ranks of the tribes, which has led them to inherit customs and traditions
and schools of thought. Among these is a marital problem that occurred between a man and his wife. Following a discussion and marital disputes between them, the man divorced his wife with one revocable divorce, then delivered her to her father. A few days after delivering her to her father, he sent people to intervene to make a reconciliation, and this was during the three-month waiting period. However, the girl's father refused to return her to him. Due to the husband's ignorance that she would return to him without her father's permission, and due to the ignorance of the reconcilers and the girl's father and his insistence, they left the matter thinking that the divorce had taken place, and they had no knowledge that the taking back had been realized by sending those reconcilers. So after months had passed, the husband sent a request to have his wife returned to him. Reconcilers intervened again and ruled that the husband must pay a sum of 30,000 thirty thousand riyals. They went to the judge and did not inform him of the husband's request to have his wife returned during the waiting period. So he informed them that the matter requires a new marriage contract and a new bridal gift. The husband consulted some people, and they informed him that he had taken his wife back and that he owes nothing. Then their issue was raised to Your Eminence, and you issued a fatwa to them that he owes no contract and no bridal gift as long as he had taken her back during the waiting period. Because the matter contradicts the customs of the tribes and is incompatible with them, they were not pleased with this fatwa, and the girl's father was not convinced to return her without a bridal gift, as the amount paid above, which is thirty thousand riyals, had been stipulated for him by the reconcilers. When the fatwa was issued, the husband and his father refused to hand over
that amount and requested that their wife be handed over to them. At that point, the girl's father sought the help of the tribal chief and the notables of the tribe and explained the case to them. They did not care about the ruling of the Shari'ah in this case; rather, they said to the girl's father: You have a right against your daughter's husband and his father, and against your brother who played the biggest role in the reconciliation case, for the amount mentioned above. They asked him to bring these people to them so that they could execute against them those judgments they had inherited from their fathers and grandfathers. Indeed, the brother of the girl's father was present, and a tribal session was held. The tribal chief and one of the notables of the tribe, that is, the notables of the tribe, ruled against the man who intervened in the reconciliation and did not make a full bridal gift obligatory for his brother on his daughter's husband, a sum of 10,000 riyals. They said: This is for the experts' fee; because you betrayed your brother and sided with his opponents and did not stand with your brother against them until he took the amount, which is thirty thousand riyals. Is this action and behavior of those people considered a judicial ruling in this marital problem? Is the intervention justified and permissible? Is this amount that was ruled against the reconciler lawful to eat? Is it permissible to pay such an amount to such people, or is there a sin on the one who pays it? This problem is but a simple model and example of what happens in those tribes and clans of sanctifying those customs and schools of thought, to the extent that they consider one who does not rule by them to have committed a great matter and a disgrace, and they belittle him and hint that he does not know
the schools of thought and has cut off a school of thought, so he is not allowed to sit in their gatherings or attend their sessions, that is, the sessions of the tribe, until they judge him in what has caused trouble for them, and so on from a series of phrases and customs. Your Eminence: If this action and behaviors are considered a ruling by other than what Allah the Exalted has revealed, what is the ruling of one who submits to those customs and then his relatives and brothers cut him off? Is he considered one who severs family ties, that is, the one who refuses to deal with the opponents of these customs, or are they the ones who sever ties? And is there any advice for the tribal chief, as he is their role model, their elder, and their guide, as he is one of the judges in this case and similar cases? Please issue a fatwa in this case, hoping that it will be written and circulated if possible, so that the benefit may spread to the general Muslim community. May Allah forgive you and reward us and the Muslims with the best reward, for He is the One who answers supplication.
A: First: As long as the woman is in the waiting period and her divorce is not final, she is a wife whom the husband has the right to take back without her consent, without the permission of her guardian, and without a new bridal gift, by the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Baqarah 2:228] . Second: The customs and tribal traditions mentioned in the question are reprehensible actions that contradict the Islamic Shari'ah. It is not permissible to rule by them, nor
to be pleased with them. It is obligatory for Muslims to refer to the Islamic Shari'ah to resolve their disputes and litigation in the Shari'ah courts. This is the requirement of faith; by the saying of Allah the Exalted:[An-Nisa 4:65] and His saying: [An-Nisa 4:59] , and His saying: [Al-Ma'idah 5:50] And upon the one who has a right and has not obtained it: to refer to the court with his opponent, and in what they see as sufficient; because adjudicating disputes is within their jurisdiction. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and his Companions.
Q: Allah the Exalted said:
and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another
وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَائِلَ لِتَعَارَفُواand schools of thought. Among these is a marital problem that occurred between a man and his wife. Following a discussion and marital disputes between them, the man divorced his wife with one revocable divorce, then delivered her to her father. A few days after delivering her to her father, he sent people to intervene to make a reconciliation, and this was during the three-month waiting period. However, the girl's father refused to return her to him. Due to the husband's ignorance that she would return to him without her father's permission, and due to the ignorance of the reconcilers and the girl's father and his insistence, they left the matter thinking that the divorce had taken place, and they had no knowledge that the taking back had been realized by sending those reconcilers. So after months had passed, the husband sent a request to have his wife returned to him. Reconcilers intervened again and ruled that the husband must pay a sum of 30,000 thirty thousand riyals. They went to the judge and did not inform him of the husband's request to have his wife returned during the waiting period. So he informed them that the matter requires a new marriage contract and a new bridal gift. The husband consulted some people, and they informed him that he had taken his wife back and that he owes nothing. Then their issue was raised to Your Eminence, and you issued a fatwa to them that he owes no contract and no bridal gift as long as he had taken her back during the waiting period. Because the matter contradicts the customs of the tribes and is incompatible with them, they were not pleased with this fatwa, and the girl's father was not convinced to return her without a bridal gift, as the amount paid above, which is thirty thousand riyals, had been stipulated for him by the reconcilers. When the fatwa was issued, the husband and his father refused to hand over
that amount and requested that their wife be handed over to them. At that point, the girl's father sought the help of the tribal chief and the notables of the tribe and explained the case to them. They did not care about the ruling of the Shari'ah in this case; rather, they said to the girl's father: You have a right against your daughter's husband and his father, and against your brother who played the biggest role in the reconciliation case, for the amount mentioned above. They asked him to bring these people to them so that they could execute against them those judgments they had inherited from their fathers and grandfathers. Indeed, the brother of the girl's father was present, and a tribal session was held. The tribal chief and one of the notables of the tribe, that is, the notables of the tribe, ruled against the man who intervened in the reconciliation and did not make a full bridal gift obligatory for his brother on his daughter's husband, a sum of 10,000 riyals. They said: This is for the experts' fee; because you betrayed your brother and sided with his opponents and did not stand with your brother against them until he took the amount, which is thirty thousand riyals. Is this action and behavior of those people considered a judicial ruling in this marital problem? Is the intervention justified and permissible? Is this amount that was ruled against the reconciler lawful to eat? Is it permissible to pay such an amount to such people, or is there a sin on the one who pays it? This problem is but a simple model and example of what happens in those tribes and clans of sanctifying those customs and schools of thought, to the extent that they consider one who does not rule by them to have committed a great matter and a disgrace, and they belittle him and hint that he does not know
the schools of thought and has cut off a school of thought, so he is not allowed to sit in their gatherings or attend their sessions, that is, the sessions of the tribe, until they judge him in what has caused trouble for them, and so on from a series of phrases and customs. Your Eminence: If this action and behaviors are considered a ruling by other than what Allah the Exalted has revealed, what is the ruling of one who submits to those customs and then his relatives and brothers cut him off? Is he considered one who severs family ties, that is, the one who refuses to deal with the opponents of these customs, or are they the ones who sever ties? And is there any advice for the tribal chief, as he is their role model, their elder, and their guide, as he is one of the judges in this case and similar cases? Please issue a fatwa in this case, hoping that it will be written and circulated if possible, so that the benefit may spread to the general Muslim community. May Allah forgive you and reward us and the Muslims with the best reward, for He is the One who answers supplication.
A: First: As long as the woman is in the waiting period and her divorce is not final, she is a wife whom the husband has the right to take back without her consent, without the permission of her guardian, and without a new bridal gift, by the saying of Allah the Exalted:
And their husbands have more right to take them back in this [period] if they want reconciliation
وَبُعُولَتُهُنَّ أَحَقُّ بِرَدِّهِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ إِنْ أَرَادُوا إِصْلاحًاto be pleased with them. It is obligatory for Muslims to refer to the Islamic Shari'ah to resolve their disputes and litigation in the Shari'ah courts. This is the requirement of faith; by the saying of Allah the Exalted:
But no, by your Lord, they will not [truly] believe until they make you, [O Muhammad], judge concerning that over which they dispute among themselves and then find within themselves no discomfort from what you have judged and submit in [full, willing] submission.
فَلا وَرَبِّكَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ حَتَّى يُحَكِّمُوكَ فِيمَا شَجَرَ بَيْنَهُمْ ثُمَّ لاَ يَجِدُوا فِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ حَرَجًا مِمَّا قَضَيْتَ وَيُسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًاAnd if you disagree over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you should believe in Allah and the Last Day. That is the best [way] and best in result.
فَإِنْ تَنَازَعْتُمْ فِي شَيْءٍ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَالرَّسُولِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ ذَلِكَ خَيْرٌ وَأَحْسَنُ تَأْوِيلاThen is it the judgement of [the time of] ignorance they desire? But who is better than Allah in judgement for a people who are certain [in faith].
أَفَحُكْمَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ يَبْغُونَ وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ مِنَ اللَّهِ حُكْمًا لِقَوْمٍ يُوقِنُونَ
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.