Is it permissible to marry with the intention of divorce?

The questioner : If a man wants to marry and intends...

The Shaykh : ...to divorce her.

The questioner : To divorce her after a year for a specific reason, without telling her that he will leave her after a year. Is this permissible?

The Shaykh : Why does he intend to divorce her if he has no guardian over him and no one to hold him accountable? Why does he intend to divorce her?

The questioner : So that he does not resemble the marriage of temporary pleasure? So that he does not... the Shi'ah, I mean.

The Shaykh : So if he does not intend anything, does that resemble the temporary marriage?

The questioner : If he does not say it.

The Shaykh : If he does not intend it, he does not say it.

The questioner : He did not intend it. What does that mean?

The Shaykh : You did not say that he intends to divorce her after a year. I am reversing it. If he does not intend it, what is the consequence?

The questioner : There is a difference, I mean.

The Shaykh : I am asking you about the difference.

The questioner : If he does not intend it, this marriage is normal.

The Shaykh : Do you not want the marriage to be normal? I am asking you, answer the question. Do you not want the Muslim's marriage to be normal?

The questioner : Of course.

The Shaykh : So why does he intend to divorce after a year?

The questioner : I mean, I think there is a difference between intending and not intending. I mean, regarding the wife's right, he can tell her, "I will divorce you after a year." I think this means considering the wife's right. It is her right; she says yes or no, I mean.

The Shaykh : O Shaykh, you are confused in your question. One moment you say he does not say it, but he intends it. Did you understand that this intention has no benefit and he has no need for it? Did you understand this?

The questioner : This is what I mean by intention. There is a difference between intentions.

The Shaykh : If a Muslim marries a woman as Muslims do, do they intend anything when Muslims marry?

The questioner : No.

The Shaykh : Okay, if a Muslim marries a Muslim woman as Muslims do, meaning he did not have an intention, and then after a year he feels like divorcing her, is it forbidden for him to divorce her?

The questioner : No, it is not forbidden. But the wife... I mean, I consider the wife's right in this matter.

The Shaykh : What is the wife's right? Is it permissible for him to divorce her or not?

The questioner : Of course, it is permissible.

The Shaykh : What is the right, then? Since you are talking about it, since it is permissible, does the woman have a right? Does the woman have the right to prevent the husband from divorcing her?

The questioner : No, I do not know.

The Shaykh : And so I am afraid. We need to look at the matter.

Another questioner : They believe that it is the wife's right to know this intention before the marriage contract.

The Shaykh : O brother, we tell him, do not intend it. May Allah be pleased with you.

The questioner : This Shaykh, it seems they discussed this issue, so he leans toward the view that it is the wife's right to know this intention before the marriage contract.

The Shaykh : Glory be to Allah. I say, O brother, the issue has shifted from him to you. You are with me. I am telling you now: Does a lawful marriage require an intention? I want to marry a woman as a Muslim marries any woman, and then I feel like divorcing her after a year, two years, etc. Do I have the right or not?

The questioner : You have the right.

The Shaykh : Do I have an intention here?

The questioner : A prior intention. This is what he is talking about, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : May Allah guide you. I am asking you. Leave him alone. You will bring back the story of Ibn Battal. Leave him for me.

The questioner : I am done speaking. I like listening. I stopped talking...

The Shaykh : You stopped while you were speaking. How did you stop?

The questioner : I have been with them for a long time, the Algerians, I mean. When they speak in Arabic, I can understand from their speech what they want to ask.

The Shaykh : Why did we not understand what he wanted to ask?

The questioner : He has a point he is circling around, O Shaykh. This intention: does the wife have the right to know it?

The Shaykh : O brother, we say he should not intend it.

The questioner : I seek help from Allah. I know this, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : You know?

The questioner: I know.

The Shaykh : Does he know?

The questioner : He does not know.

The Shaykh : He knows.

The questioner : You answered this, but he says he sees that he should talk to the wife.

Another questioner : Since it is permissible for a Muslim to divorce his wife at any time, this means...

The Shaykh : That is why we are telling you, do not intend it. And we are saying this man has a custom among them like this. We left him alone and told him, do not intend it. And what will result from this? We always discuss this with the young men who are tested and live in European countries. They want to protect themselves, so they marry their wives and intend in their hearts that as soon as they finish their studies, they will go and divorce them. Do you understand me? We tell these people, marry and do not intend, because this intention, if it does not harm you, it does not benefit you. This intention, if it does not harm you, it will not benefit you. Why? Because if a Muslim marries in a land of Islam and lives with his wife, and then he feels like divorcing her, he has the right to divorce her. Do you understand? So there, if he wants to marry a Christian or Jewish woman, and he may feel that in the end, the academic year is over and he wants to return to his country, it may seem to him that he will not take her with him, and she will cause him problems with his family, his father, his grandfather, his mother, etc. So then he divorces her. The Shari'ah does not tell him not to divorce her. And yet, the opposite may happen, and this has happened many times. He takes her to a land of Islam with him, right or not?

The questioner : Now I know the problem of the woman he divorced, the woman he married and then divorced. It is difficult for her to marry a second time. Besides that, regarding this right of the wife, I spoke, but I thought there was a right for the wife, I mean.
Al-Halabi : If a woman is divorced, she will not marry, so... this is what was in his mind.

The questioner : I doubted this right, I mean, for the wife.
Al-'Aishah: Okay, O our Shaykh, if she is good or kind or such, and she is committed, and he feels like divorcing her, is it permissible for him to do so, or is it considered injustice to her?

The Shaykh : This is a hypothetical issue, O Abu 'Abd al-Rahman. Does anyone divorce a good, righteous, beautiful, and knowledgeable woman? Who does this?
Al-'Aishah: I mean, some people... in the West, they convert the marriage of temporary pleasure into this intention, an intention for a year, for example, and then...
Al-Halabi : O our Shaykh, he was saying a word...

The Shaykh : No, excuse me, because he repeated the problem... May Allah guide you.
Al-Halabi : We say briefly, why does he restrict himself? He marries and does not intend. If he feels like it, he divorces.

The Shaykh : So we said this intention, if it does not harm him, it does not benefit him.