Divorce Before Marriage Does Not Occur!

Divorce before marriage does not occur. If a man tells a woman:

”If I marry you, you are divorced.”Or says:”Whenever I marry a woman, she is divorced.”Or says:”If I go to such and such a house or talk to such and such a person, then whoever I marry will be divorced.”

If he then goes to that house, talks to that person, and marries a woman, in all these cases, the divorce will not take place. Rather, this divorce is invalid.

According to Hanafi followers, divorce occurs in all these aforementioned cases, although they have no sound evidence and merely fall victim to blind following. Here are the proofs that divorce does not occur:

Proof 1

Allah Almighty says:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا نَكَحْتُمُ الْمُؤْمِنَاتِ ثُمَّ طَلَّقْتُمُوهُنَّ مِن قَبْلِ أَن تَمَسُّوهُنَّ [33-الأحزاب:49]​

"O you who have believed, when you marry believing women and then divorce them before you have touched them..."

◈ Hafiz Ibn Kathir (773-701H) writes in the commentary of this verse:

"Ibn Abbas, Saeed bin Musayyib, Hasan Basri, Ali bin Hussain Zainul Abideen, and a group of Salaf have derived from this verse that divorce does not occur unless preceded by marriage. Because Allah said, 'When you marry believing women and then divorce them.' He mentioned divorce after marriage, which indicates that divorce before marriage is neither valid nor occurs. This is the view of Imam Shafi'i, Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal, and a large group of Salaf and Khalaf."

[Tafsir Ibn Kathir: 194/5]

The translator of the Quran, Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), said:

"Ibn Mas'ud did not issue a fatwa for divorce before marriage. If he did, it was a mistake of a scholar. Allah Almighty says, 'O you who have believed, when you marry believing women and then divorce them,' not 'when you divorce believing women and then marry them.'"

[Al-Sunan al-Kubra by Al-Bayhaqi: 321/7, and its chain is good]

Note:

This statement is not proven from Ibn Mas'ud. The narration in Sunan Saeed bin Mansoor [1003] is weak due to the 'Tadlis' of Ibrahim Nakhai. There is no evidence that Ibrahim Nakhai heard directly from Ibn Mas'ud.

In Musannaf Abdur Razzaq [20/6], Imam Sha’bi has followed this narration, but there is no evidence that Imam Sha’bi heard directly from Ibn Mas'ud.Furthermore, there is 'Tadlis' from Imam Abdur Razzaq and Imam Sufyan Thawri. The second narration in Sunan Saeed bin Mansoor [1004] is also 'severely weak' due to the narrator Juwair bin Saeed al-Balkhi being 'severely weak.'

Hafiz Ibn Hajar said about him:

"Severely weak."

[Taqrib al-Tahdhib by Ibn Hajar: 987]

Also, there is no evidence that Dhahhak bin Muzahim heard directly from Ibn Abbas.

Commentator Thalabi said:

"In this verse, there is evidence that divorce before marriage does not occur, whether specific or general. This is contrary to the view of the people of Kufa."

[Al-Kashf wa al-Bayan al-Naysaburi: 53/8]

Commentator Ibn Adel said:

"In this verse, there is evidence that suspending divorce before marriage is not valid."

[Al-Bab fi Ulum al-Kitab: 565/15]

Hafiz Baghawi [Tafsir al-Baghawi: 361/6], Allama Khazin [Tafsir al-Khazin: 267/5], and others have also said the same.


Proof 2

It is narrated from Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:

"There is no divorce for a man over what he does not own."[Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaiba: 224/14, Musnad Imam Ahmad: 189/2, Sunan Abi Dawood: 2190, Mushkil al-Athar by Tahawi: 660, Sunan al-Daraqutni: 14/4, Al-Sunan al-Kubra by Bayhaqi: 318/7, and its chain is good]

The narrator, Matar al-Warraq, is considered 'trustworthy' by most scholars.

◈ Hafiz Dhahabi wrote about him:

"Trustworthy Tabi’i."[Al-Kashif by Dhahabi: 411/2]

Furthermore, he said:

"His hadith is good."[Mizan al-I’tidal by Dhahabi: 127/4]

Hafiz Ibn Hajar also considered him 'trustworthy.'

[Fath al-Bari by Ibn Hajar: 384/9]

In this hadith, these words are also found:

"Divorce, emancipation, sale, and fulfilling a vow are not valid over what one does not own."

[Musnad Imam Ahmad: 190/2, and its chain is good]

These words are also found:

"Whoever divorces what he does not own, there is no divorce for him."[Al-Mustadrak by Hakim: 300/4, and he said: its chain is authentic, Al-Sunan al-Kubra by Bayhaqi: 300/10, and its chain is good]

This hadith was declared 'Hasan Sahih' by Imam Tirmidhi and 'Sahih' by Imam Ibn al-Jarud (743).

Hafiz Khattabi (319-388H) said:

"The happiest people with this hadith are those who say according to its apparent meaning and apply it generally, as there is no evidence with those who differentiate between situations. This hadith is Hasan."

[Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi by Abdur Rahman Mubarakpuri: 213/2]

When the woman is not owned by the man before marriage, how can he divorce her? Such a divorce will be void. It is false to say that the hadith means that divorce does not occur under compulsion, but it does after marriage or by saying 'you are divorced.' When the general condition is applied to suspension, divorce occurs. This explanation is weak due to Imam Zuhri's statement [Musannaf Abdur Razzaq: 421/6, H: 11475], but it is weak due to the 'Tadlis' of Abdur Razzaq. Therefore, this explanation is also weak. Regarding all these cases, Hafiz Ibn Hazm said:

"All of these explanations are false."

[Al-Muhalla by Ibn Hazm: 205/10]

The correct view is that whether the condition is general or specific, divorce does not occur because the place of divorce does not exist. In both cases, the woman is not owned by the man. Therefore, such a divorce is void in all situations. Ibn Abbas and the majority of Salaf Salihin say the same, and this is the truth.

Proof 3

It is narrated from Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:

"There is no divorce before marriage."[Al-Mustadrak ala al-Sahihayn by Hakim: 205-204/4, Al-Sunan al-Kubra by Bayhaqi: 317/7, and its chain is good]

These words are also found: "Divorce occurs only after marriage."

[Musnad al-Tayalisi: 299, Al-Sunan al-Kubra by Bayhaqi: 318/7, and its chain is good]

Imam Saeed bin Musayyib Tabi’i said about the man who says that on the day he marries such and such woman, she is divorced:

"This is meaningless talk."[Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaiba: 16/5, and its chain is authentic]

Imam Saeed bin Jubayr Tabi’i also said about such a man:

"This talk has no significance, as divorce occurs only after marriage."[Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaiba: 16/5, and its chain is authentic]

The man who says that the woman he marries is divorced, Imam Saeed bin Jubayr said to him:

"How can you divorce what you do not own? Divorce occurs only after marriage."[Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaiba: 20/5, and its chain is authentic]

Imam Ali bin Hussain Zainul Abideen said:

"There is no divorce except after marriage."[Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaiba: 16/5, and its chain is authentic]

Imam Shuraih said:

"There is no divorce except after marriage."[Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaiba: 16/5, and its chain is authentic]

Furthermore, Imam Tawus [Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaiba: 17/5, and its chain is authentic], Qasim bin Abdur Rahman [Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaiba: 17/5, and its chain is authentic], Muhammad bin Ka'b [Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaiba: 17/5, and its chain is good], Nafi bin Jubayr [Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaiba: 17/5, and its chain is good], Imam Hasan Basri [Sunan Saeed bin Mansoor: 1031, and its chain is authentic], Mansur bin Zadhan [Sunan Saeed bin Mansoor: 1040, and its chain is authentic], Urwah bin Zubayr [Sunan Saeed bin Mansoor: 1054, and its chain is authentic], Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal and Imam Shafi'i hold this view.

In contrast, some Salaf hold the view that divorce before marriage does occur. Their opinion is not valid as it is against the Quran, Hadith, and the majority view of Ibn Abbas and the Salaf.

Hanafi Argument:

① The Hanafis argue that Qasim bin Muhammad was asked about a man who said if he marries a woman, she is divorced. Imam Qasim bin Muhammad said:

"If a man made his wife like his mother's back (declaring her forbidden) if he marries her, Umar ibn al-Khattab ordered that if he marries her, he should not approach her until he pays the expiation of Dhihar."

[Al-Mabsut by Al-Sarakhsi: 515, Kitab al-Talaq]

However, its chain is weak due to the 'inconsistency.' Qasim bin Muhammad did not hear directly from Umar ibn al-Khattab. This is also against the divine command:

"Those who declare their wives as forbidden (by Dhihar)..."

[Al-Mujadila: 3]

When this statement was made before marriage, she was not his wife at that time, so Dhihar did not occur, and expiation was not due.

② Another argument is presented from Abu Salma bin Abdur Rahman, who said a man came to Umar ibn al-Khattab and said:

"Every woman I marry is divorced thrice." Umar said: "As you said, so it will be."

[Musannaf Abdur Razzaq: 421/6, H: 11474]

However, its chain is 'severely weak' because:① It contains the 'Tadlis' of Abdur Razzaq.② Abu Muhammad, the narrator, was declared 'unknown' by Hafiz Ibn Hazm.③ It contains Yaseen bin Ma'adh al-Zayyat, who is 'weak' and 'denounced' by consensus of the scholars of Hadith.④ Imam Bukhari said that Abu Salma bin Abdur Rahman's narration from Umar is 'inconsistent.'

[Tahdhib al-Tahdhib by Ibn Hajar: 128/12]

Hafiz Ibn Hazm also said this.

[Al-Muhalla by Ibn Hazm: 207/10]

Hafiz Ibn Hazm said:

"This statement is not proven from any of the companions."

[Al-Muhalla by Ibn Hazm: 207/10]

In conclusion: Divorce given before marriage does not occur in any situation.

The Dream of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) is True!

Mu'adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

"What the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) saw in his dream and wakefulness is true."

[Al-Sunnah by Ibn Abi Asim: 13000473, and its chain is authentic]
 
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