الحمد لله ربّ العالمين والصلوة والسّلام على رسوله الأمين، أما بعد:
Forced divorce, meaning coercive divorce, refers to when some people forcibly seize a person with weapons, threaten him with killing and beating, and then through compulsion, force, oppression, and cruelty, order that poor, helpless person to divorce his wife in front of them. That helpless person, out of fear of death or beating, is compelled in this state of emergency to divorce his wife, even though he does not intend to divorce her.
In Islamic Shariah, such forced divorce does not occur at all, but the Hanafi, Deobandi, and Barelvi sects all hold the position that forced divorce does occur.
A person asked Muhammad Taqi Usmani Deobandi Sahib a question:
“Regarding forced divorce, Zaid says it does not occur, and he presents the hadith from Mishkat as evidence:
’’لا طلاق و لا عتاق في اغلاق“
whereas according to the Hanafis, forced divorce does occur, so what hadith do the Hanafis use as evidence?”
The answer to this question was written by the mentioned scholar (Taqi Usmani) in the following words:
“According to the Hanafis, forced divorce does occur. The Hanafi evidences are as follows:
A: … قوله صلى الله عليه وسلم ثلاث جدهن جد و هزلهن جد النكاح و الطلاق و الرجعة
The doubts or “arguments” presented by Taqi Usmani Sahib in his mentioned fatwa are commented on and refuted in order as follows:
◈ The meaning of the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that has been referenced is as follows:
There are three things which, if done intentionally or even in jest, will still be valid:
➊ Marriage
➋ Divorce
➌ Revocation (Raj’ah)
You have read the translation and meaning of the Hadith; in this narration, there is no mention or indication of forced divorce,
but only two things are mentioned:
➊ Giving divorce intentionally.
➋ Giving divorce in jest.
Forced divorce is neither given intentionally by one’s own will nor is it a joke, therefore this hadith has been presented inappropriately and out of context. To our knowledge, the pious predecessors and impartial jurists and hadith scholars have not established the issue of forced divorce based on this hadith, so the only argument against the hadith scholars is that of Tahawi, which is completely incorrect.
Imam Baghawee said:
’’اتفق أهل العلم على أن الطلاق الهازل يقع … و اتفق أهل العلم على ان طلاق الصبي و المجنون لا يقع “
There is consensus among the scholars that a divorce given in jest is valid… and there is consensus among the scholars that the divorce of a small child and a mentally incapacitated person is not valid.
When some people analogized forced divorce to a divorce given in jest and declared it valid, Imam Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Ahmad al-Ansari al-Qurtubi (d. 671 AH) said:
’’وهذا قياس باطل“
“And this analogy is invalid.”
Warning: The narrator of the mentioned narration, Abdur Rahman bin Habib bin Ardak, has been declared a fabricator of hadith by Al-Nasa’i, ”صدوق فیه لین‘‘ by Hafiz Al-Dhahabi, and ”لین الحدیث “ by Hafiz Ibn Hajar, while Ibn Hibban, Tirmidhi praised his hadith, and Hakim declared him trustworthy through authentic and reliable chains. Therefore, according to the principle of preferring the majority, this chain is Hasan (good).
◈عن عمر قال : أربع واجبات على كل من تكلم بهنّ العتاق والطلاق و النكاح والنذر .
This narration is mentioned without a chain in Ahkam al-Quran by Al-Jassas, the Mu’tazili
, and Zafar Ahmad Thanvi Deobandi has quoted it in his A’la al-Sunan
.
Imam Bukhari narrated in Al-Tarikh al-Kabir
from Sayyiduna Umar (RA):
أربع مقفلات (صح) النذر والطلاق والعتق والنكاح
And it was narrated by Al-Bayhaqi with the chain of Imam Bukhari.
In its chain, Muhammad bin Ishaq bin Bayar is a trustworthy mudallis (one who conceals a weak link) and the narration is from ‘an’ (indirect), therefore this chain is weak and rejected.
In one narration, Sayyiduna Umar (RA) said:
”أربع جائزات على كل أحد : العتاق والطلاق والنذور والنكاح.“
Its chain of narration includes Hajjaj bin Artaatah Mudallis and the chain is from An, therefore it is weak and rejected. In another narration, it is mentioned that Sayyiduna Umar (RA) said:
’’ثلاث اللاعب فيهن والجاد راء : الطلاق والصدقة والعتاقة ، قال عبد الكريم و قال طلق بن حبيب : والهدي والنذر “
In the chain of this narration, Abu Umayyah Abdul Karim bin Abi al-Mukhariq is weak.
The majority of hadith scholars have declared it weak, and the rest of the chain is also questionable.
You have seen that all these narrations are weak and rejected, but Zafar Ahmad Thanvi wrote this to save his Deobandism:
And these chains support one another.
Thanvi’s claim is completely wrong, and I was informed through the book by Sheikh al-Saduq Abdul Awwal bin Hammad bin Muhammad al-Ansari al-Madani, who said: I heard my father (Sheikh Hammad Ansari, may Allah have mercy on him) say:
’’إن كتاب ” اعلاء السنن “ ملي بالموضوعات و أغلب أدلته أحاديث كذب أو ضعيفة .‘‘
“Indeed, the book: A’laa al-Sunan is filled with fabricated narrations and its common proofs are false or weak narrations.
Sheikh Adab Mahmood Al-Mush said about A’laa al-Sunan:
’’و في هذا الكتاب بلایا و طامات مخجلة !“
And in this book there are calamities and disgraceful destructions.
It should be remembered that all these narrations attributed to Sayyiduna Umar (RA) are unrelated to the subject of forced divorce, because they do not even mention talaq al-makruh (disliked divorce), and the self-invented meanings derived through distortions by those promoting these topics are unacceptable and rejected in the field of knowledge.
◈According to Muhammad bin al-Hasan al-Shaybani (i.e., Ibn Farqad) and Aqili Safwan bin Imran al-Tai, it is narrated that a man was sleeping when his wife took a knife and placed it on his chest and said: “Give me three divorces, otherwise I will slaughter you.” Then he divorced her, and later informed the Prophet ﷺ, who said:
’’لا قيلولة في الطلاق “
This narration is found in the book Al-Du’afa al-Kabir al-Aqili
, Sunan Sa’id bin Mansur
, and Al-‘Ilal by Ibn al-Jawzi
, etc., and its chain is very weak for two reasons:
(1) Safwan al-Asamm al-Tai himself is weak.
He has been classified as weak by Imam Bukhari
, Aqili, and others in the books of weak narrators, and Imam Bukhari said:
”حدیثه منکر “
The hadith he narrates is rejected.
Abu Hatim al-Razi said:
’’يكتب حديثه وليس بالقوي “
His hadith is recorded but he is not strong.
They also declared the narration about revocable divorce as rejected.
Ibn Hazm said:
’’وصفوان منکر الحديث‘‘
◈ Ghazi bin Jablah is a defective narrator; Bukhari mentioned him among the weak narrators and said that his hadith about revocable divorce is rejected.
Abu Hatim Al-Razi said:
’’هو منكر الحديث“
He is a denier of hadith, etc.
Many scholars such as Imam Bukhari, Abu Hatim Al-Razi, Ibn Al-Jawzi, and others have declared this narration as rejected and not authentic.
Ibn Hazm said:
Ghazi bin Jablah is a concealed (i.e., defective) narrator.
Taqi Sahib wrote this strange statement that “And Allama Zafar Ahmad Usmani, may Allah have mercy on him, has provided evidence in ’’اعلاء السنن‘‘ Vol. 1, p. 125 that this hadith is reliable in its chain of transmission.”
It is presented that in the book named ”اعلاء السنن‘‘ (177/11), on the mentioned page, there are no arguments but mere wordplay, and in the end, without any evidence, it is written as ”صالح للاحتجاج “. Taqi Sahib or his followers should have the courage to prove the authentication of the following two narrators from the majority of hadith scholars:
➊ Al-Ghaz bin Jablah
➋ Safwan Al-Asam Al-Tai
And if they cannot prove it, then this narration is weak and rejected and not acceptable as evidence, meaning it is not permissible to take proof from it.
◈ “In Musannaf Abdul Razzaq, it is narrated from Hazrat Abdullah bin Umar (RA) that he considered the divorce of Makrah as valid, and this is the belief.”
It is presented that this narration is narrated from the words of ”طلاق المکرہ جائز“ and its narrator Ayub Al-Sakhtiyani Al-Basri (born 66 AH) did not have a confirmed meeting with our master Abdullah bin Umar (RA) (died 74 AH), therefore this chain is broken and due to this, it is weak and rejected.
Benefit: The summary of a statement by Tahawi Hanafi is that (Imam) Abu Hanifa did not consider a disconnected narration as proof.
As for the narrations of the Tabi‘in, there is also reason to consider them authentic, and after the Quran, Hadith, and the narrations of the Companions, what need is there for the various conflicting narrations of the Tabi‘in?!
◈ Taqi Sahib wrote: “And if, hypothetically, ’’اکراہ“ is taken in this meaning, then from a narration of the compiler Abdul Razzaq, its abrogation is understood, and that narration is:
”عن سعید بن جبير أنه بلغه قول الحسن ليس طلاق المكره بشي ..“
It is submitted that in its chain of transmission, Mu’tamir bin Sulayman al-Taymi’s father, Sulayman al-Taymi, was a muddallis (one who conceals a link in the chain), and there is no specification of hearing (sama‘), therefore, in our understanding, this narration is weak, and proving abrogation from a weak narration is beyond our comprehension.
The brief and concise commentary on the aforementioned fatwa has ended, and now the arguments are presented which prove that forced divorce does not take place:
◈ The summary of a verse from the Holy Quran is that if a Muslim is captured by disbelievers and is forced by power to utter disbelief, that person does not become a disbeliever.
The Quranic exegete Imam Abu Abdullah Al-Qurtubi extracted twenty-one (21) issues from this verse, among which the seventh issue is that Imam Shafi’i and his companions said:
”لا يلزمه شي“
Nothing (from forced divorce) becomes obligatory because of it.
Rather, Al-Qurtubi and before him Qadi Abu Bakr Ibn Al-Arabi Al-Maliki declared the analogy attributed to Imam Abu Hanifa regarding forced divorce as invalid (و هذا قياس باطل).
The famous Tabi’i Imam Ata bin Abi Rabah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
الشرك أعظم من الطلاق
Polytheism is greater than divorce.
When a person does not become a disbeliever by uttering the word of disbelief under compulsion, similarly, a divorce given under compulsion does not take effect.
◈ It is established from the incident narrated by Thabit bin Iyad bin Ahnaf, may Allah have mercy on him (a trustworthy Tabi’i), that Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar and Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Al-Zubair (may Allah be pleased with them) said: Forced divorce is not valid.
◈ Among the noble Tabi’in, there is a difference of opinion regarding forced divorce.
Imam Ata bin Abi Rabah, may Allah have mercy on him, did not consider forced divorce to be anything.
Imam Umar bin Abdul Aziz, may Allah have mercy on him, also did not accept forced divorce.
Among the Tabi‘een, Imam Aamir Al-Sha‘mi, may Allah have mercy on him, considered forced divorce by a king permissible, but forced divorce by thieves and robbers impermissible.
That is, they did not believe in the occurrence of forced divorce as practiced by the Hanafis, and Hafiz Ibn Hajar said:
’’و ذهب الجمهور إلى عدم اعتبار ما يقع فيه “
And according to the majority (whether it is a king or a thief or robber), forced divorce is not considered to have occurred.
Benefit: It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, that a divorce given under compulsion (Makrah) is not valid.
In the chain of this narration, there is a narrator named Abdullah bin Talhah Al-Khuza‘i, whom the following scholars have declared trustworthy and reliable:
➊ Ibn Hibban
➋ Al-Bukhari علق له فی صحیحہ
➌ Ibn al-Qayyim
➍ ‘Ayni
➎ Ibn Hazm mentioned Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas and said:
This is established from Ibn Abbas.
ابن حجر العسقلانی سكت على حديثه في فتح الباري .
(وسكوته ليس بشي عندنا و لكنه حجة عند الديوبندية!)
It is remembered that the narrator’s authentication by Imam Ajli is not established, but it is proven from the sayings of Sayyiduna Ibn Umar and Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Zubair رضي الله عنهم and others (whose authenticity is not disputed by any companion) that there is a consensus among the Companions رضي الله عنهم اجمعین that forced divorce does not take place.
◈ Imam Malik, Imam Shafi’i, Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal, and many other Imams hold the view that forced divorce does not occur, and this is the belief of the majority of scholars.
This is also the finding of Imam Bukhari and others.
Imam Shafi’i رحمه الله said:
Ja’far bin Sulaiman bin Ali Al-Hashimi was the ruler over the people of Madinah, then he summoned (Imam) Malik and said:
“Are you the one who issues a fatwa that forced (coerced) divorce does not take place and that the pledge (bay’ah) is invalid?!”
Then he had one hundred lashes struck on your bare back until your shoulder was dislocated and you could not button your own buttons with your hands.
◈ Hafiz Ibn Hazm has refuted the false reasoning of the people of opinion with reasoning, because these people say that forced buying and selling does not occur. If forced buying and selling does not occur, then how does forced divorce happen?
An important point regarding forced divorce is presented:
In a narration, it is reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
” لا طلاق ولا عتاق في اغلاق ‘‘
In a state of compulsion (or anger), neither divorce occurs nor is a slave freed.
The chain of this narration is weak.
If this narration were authentic or good, then two issues would be clearly established:
➊ Forced divorce does not occur
➋ Divorce does not occur in a state of anger.
Since we are bound by the principles of Hadith, the science of narrators’ names, and fairness, we do not use this weak narration as evidence.
Summary of the research: Forced divorce does not occur as is proven by the generality of the Quran and the consensus of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), and in this regard, the fatwa of Taqi Usmani Sahib is completely incorrect.
وما علينا إلا البلاغ
