On the saying of Allah the Exalted: “So let them send an arbitrator from among his people and an arbitrator from among her people.”
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The questioner : My Shaykh, regarding the saying of Allah the Exalted: [An-Nisa 4:35] Who is commanded here to send the two arbitrators, and do they have the right to compel the husband and wife to accept something they do not agree to?
The Shaykh : The one who appoints the two arbitrators is the judge, because Allah the Exalted directed the address to the Muslim community, and the judge is their representative, so he is the one who sends the arbitrators. Then, regarding these two arbitrators, some scholars say that they are agents for the husband and wife, so none of their ruling is executed except what the husband and wife agree to. But this opinion is weak, and the correct view is that they are arbitrators and their ruling is binding. Yes.
send an arbitrator from his people and an arbitrator from her people. If they both desire reconciliation
فابعثوا حكما من أهله وحكما من أهلها إن يريدا إصلاحاThe Shaykh : The one who appoints the two arbitrators is the judge, because Allah the Exalted directed the address to the Muslim community, and the judge is their representative, so he is the one who sends the arbitrators. Then, regarding these two arbitrators, some scholars say that they are agents for the husband and wife, so none of their ruling is executed except what the husband and wife agree to. But this opinion is weak, and the correct view is that they are arbitrators and their ruling is binding. Yes.