The Meaning of the Hadith: (There is no divorce in a state of compulsion)

The Shaykh : The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The scholars have explained "compulsion" (Ighlaq) in two ways. The first, and most common, explanation is that the person has no intention; that is, there is no divorce in a state of compulsion, meaning the person has no intention. This refers to the divorce of one who is coerced, which happens frequently. For example, a son-in-law quarrels with his wife's uncle, and the uncle threatens him, saying, "You will divorce your wife, who is my niece, or what? I will kill you." So, to get out of this trouble, he is threatened and says to her, "You are divorced." This divorce does not take effect because it is a coerced divorce, and this is the consensus of the scholars, even among the Hanafis who validate the divorce of the angry person. I mean, except for the Hanafis; due to their deviation, they validate the coerced divorce and say, "We take the wording into account." But the wise Shari'ah is merciful and compassionate. He said: We said that "compulsion" has two explanations. The first is coercion; so if one is coerced, there is no divorce upon him. The second explanation is the divorce of the angry person. The angry person meets the coerced person in one aspect: just as it is apparent that the coerced person did not intend the divorce but was forced into it, so too the angry person did not intend the divorce with his consciousness and thought. The proof is that as soon as he returns to his senses and his calm and thought return to him, he regrets what he said and what he did. This second meaning of "compulsion" aligns with the saying of Allah the Exalted: In my opinion, the resolve to divorce cannot be understood as being achieved by the angry person. One does not say, "So-and-so resolved to do such-and-such," unless he has thought about the matter, weighed it, and planned it, and only then has he resolved. As for the angry person, he is not described as having resolved to do something, because resolve is preceded by certain things. Therefore, the scholars divided the thoughts that pass through a person's mind into six degrees. The last and most important is the resolve, and the first is the fleeting thought. A thought occurs to a person, for example, to go on an errand, whether good or bad; that is a fleeting thought.
A fleeting thought is like a passing thought; it comes and then goes. But a thought may take hold in the mind of the person to whom it occurred, until it becomes stronger than a fleeting thought, and that is a concern (hamm). Then, if this concern becomes strong and only the action remains, it is driven by the resolve. So, what comes after the resolve is the execution of what the person resolved to do. The point of this discussion, apart from what we were discussing regarding the divorce of the angry person, is: when does the resolve for something occur? It occurs when a concern precedes it. When is there a gap between them? When the fleeting thought occurs to his mind. So, this classification, for one who wants to divorce, necessitates that something precede the divorce. Therefore, Allah the Exalted said:
It is not possible to imagine that the angry person has passed through these stages. It is clear that I believe the divorce of the angry person is not executed, based on the negation of the divorce by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in his saying: We have explained "compulsion" with two meanings, and there is no contradiction or conflict between them. The first is being coerced into divorce, in which case the divorce does not take effect. The second is divorcing while angry. In reality, both types of divorce meet in the fact that they are driven by something. The coerced divorce is driven in a tangible and very clear way, whereas the divorce of the angry person is driven in an indirect way. That is, the man is provoked by his wife, his uncle, his relatives, or others, and in the end, he explodes with the divorce.
Divorce is, in reality, among the rules and noble qualities of Islam in its legislation, because it came as a remedy for a problem that arises between two spouses who do not understand each other. This problem can occur, and Allah the Exalted legislated a means of escape from it, but with a very sensitive and precise legislation. First, He legislated divorce, but not all at once, such that the wife becomes forbidden to him immediately upon his divorcing her with a resolve to divorce her and with his mind and thought gathered for her divorce. No, He said: to the end of the verse Yes, so He provided a space here to enable each of the spouses to reconsider. When the husband divorces his wife for the first time, each of them thinks about the outcome. He thinks, "Will I find a wife better than this one, or will I not find one? If not, I must endure her, with her faults and all." Likewise, she may think the same thought: "Where will I go now? If this man resolves to divorce me for the third time, I will not be lawful to him until I marry another husband." So He established all these stages so that if separation occurs, each person is at peace with the result, aware of it, and not surprised by it.
The divorce of the angry person is not consistent with this wise legislation. Therefore, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: whether he was coerced or angry.