Ruling on the Divorce of a Woman in Postpartum Bleeding
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question: Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings. After that:
Dear Beloved, your noble letter dated 25/1/1389 AH has been received, may Allah guide you. I understood what your excellence recorded regarding the manner in which husband S. divorced his wife. He stated: "If I smoke for a year, my wife is divorced once." This occurred while she was in postpartum bleeding, and he smoked while she was still in that state. We were consulted and ruled that it was a slip of the tongue. Then a dispute arose between them, and his anger intensified, so he swore by divorce that he would not speak to her for fifteen days, intending one divorce to discipline her. She said, "Never speak to me again," so he spoke to her after two days, believing that his oath was dissolved because she had spoken to him first. He does not recall that she did not admit to him that she had initiated the conversation, but he is certain in his heart because he intended in his heart that she had not initiated the conversation, and he did not verbalize this at the time of the oath. Then he divorced her once. Her father informed you that he knows nothing except the last paper, and that he and his daughter do not object to the resumption of the marriage if the pure Shari'ah permits it. He has resumed the marriage and witnessed two just men on the resumption.
Answer: From 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Baz to the honorable brother, the virtuous Shaykh M. 'A. M., may Allah grant him success in all good, amen.
Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings. After that:
Dear Beloved, your noble letter dated 25/1/1389 AH has been received, may Allah guide you. I understood what your excellence recorded regarding the manner in which husband S. divorced his wife. He stated: "If I smoke for a year, my wife is divorced once." This occurred while she was in postpartum bleeding, and he smoked while she was still in that state. We were consulted and ruled that it was a slip of the tongue. Then a dispute arose between them, and his anger intensified, so he swore by divorce that he would not speak to her for fifteen days, intending one divorce to discipline her. She said, "Never speak to me again," so he spoke to her after two days, believing that his oath was dissolved because she had spoken to him first. He does not recall that she did not admit to him that she had initiated the conversation, but he is certain in his heart because he intended in his heart that she had not initiated the conversation, and he did not verbalize this at the time of the oath. Then he divorced her once. Her father informed you that he knows nothing except the last paper, and that he and his daughter do not object to the resumption of the marriage if the pure Shari'ah permits it. He has resumed the marriage and witnessed two just men on the resumption.
Based on this, I have ruled for the aforementioned that his resumption of the marriage is valid, because the first divorce did not take place as it coincided with her postpartum bleeding. It is necessary to ask the husband about his intention in the conditional divorce in the first and second instances. If his intention in the first instance was to restrain himself from smoking, and in the second instance to restrain himself from speaking to her, and his intention was not divorce, and he did not find it acceptable to divorce her at that time when the condition was met, as is apparent in his case and the case of most people, then the two conditional divorces did not take place because they were not truly intended; rather, the intention was to restrain the self from smoking and speaking. He owes an expiation for an oath for smoking and an expiation for an oath for speaking to his wife. Thus, there were two preventers for the first divorce from taking place: that it was during postpartum bleeding and that it was not intended. As for the second, there was one preventer.
I hope that your excellence will inform them of this and complete the necessary procedures. I also hope to advise the husband not to be lenient with divorce and to strive to treat anger by seeking refuge in Allah from Satan and leaving the place of anger to another place. May Allah reward you and guide your steps, and may peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
Dear Beloved, your noble letter dated 25/1/1389 AH has been received, may Allah guide you. I understood what your excellence recorded regarding the manner in which husband S. divorced his wife. He stated: "If I smoke for a year, my wife is divorced once." This occurred while she was in postpartum bleeding, and he smoked while she was still in that state. We were consulted and ruled that it was a slip of the tongue. Then a dispute arose between them, and his anger intensified, so he swore by divorce that he would not speak to her for fifteen days, intending one divorce to discipline her. She said, "Never speak to me again," so he spoke to her after two days, believing that his oath was dissolved because she had spoken to him first. He does not recall that she did not admit to him that she had initiated the conversation, but he is certain in his heart because he intended in his heart that she had not initiated the conversation, and he did not verbalize this at the time of the oath. Then he divorced her once. Her father informed you that he knows nothing except the last paper, and that he and his daughter do not object to the resumption of the marriage if the pure Shari'ah permits it. He has resumed the marriage and witnessed two just men on the resumption.
Answer: From 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Baz to the honorable brother, the virtuous Shaykh M. 'A. M., may Allah grant him success in all good, amen.
Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings. After that:
Dear Beloved, your noble letter dated 25/1/1389 AH has been received, may Allah guide you. I understood what your excellence recorded regarding the manner in which husband S. divorced his wife. He stated: "If I smoke for a year, my wife is divorced once." This occurred while she was in postpartum bleeding, and he smoked while she was still in that state. We were consulted and ruled that it was a slip of the tongue. Then a dispute arose between them, and his anger intensified, so he swore by divorce that he would not speak to her for fifteen days, intending one divorce to discipline her. She said, "Never speak to me again," so he spoke to her after two days, believing that his oath was dissolved because she had spoken to him first. He does not recall that she did not admit to him that she had initiated the conversation, but he is certain in his heart because he intended in his heart that she had not initiated the conversation, and he did not verbalize this at the time of the oath. Then he divorced her once. Her father informed you that he knows nothing except the last paper, and that he and his daughter do not object to the resumption of the marriage if the pure Shari'ah permits it. He has resumed the marriage and witnessed two just men on the resumption.
Based on this, I have ruled for the aforementioned that his resumption of the marriage is valid, because the first divorce did not take place as it coincided with her postpartum bleeding. It is necessary to ask the husband about his intention in the conditional divorce in the first and second instances. If his intention in the first instance was to restrain himself from smoking, and in the second instance to restrain himself from speaking to her, and his intention was not divorce, and he did not find it acceptable to divorce her at that time when the condition was met, as is apparent in his case and the case of most people, then the two conditional divorces did not take place because they were not truly intended; rather, the intention was to restrain the self from smoking and speaking. He owes an expiation for an oath for smoking and an expiation for an oath for speaking to his wife. Thus, there were two preventers for the first divorce from taking place: that it was during postpartum bleeding and that it was not intended. As for the second, there was one preventer.
I hope that your excellence will inform them of this and complete the necessary procedures. I also hope to advise the husband not to be lenient with divorce and to strive to treat anger by seeking refuge in Allah from Satan and leaving the place of anger to another place. May Allah reward you and guide your steps, and may peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.