Excerpt from: احکام و مسائل کتاب و سنت کی روشنی میں by Shaykh Mubashir Ahmad Rabbani
If a person declares divorce upon his future wife before the marriage contract, will that divorce be valid?
Such a divorce is not considered valid.
Sayyidunā ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
"لَا نَذْرَ فِيمَا لَا يَمْلِكُ ابْنُ آدَمَ، وَلَا عِتْقَ فِيمَا لَا يَمْلِكُ، وَلَا طَلَاقَ فِيمَا لَا يَمْلِكُ."
"There is no vow regarding what the son of Adam does not own, no emancipation regarding what he does not own, and no divorce regarding what he does not own."
In Ibn Mājah (ḥadīth 2038), it is narrated from Miswar bin Makhramah رضي الله عنه that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
"لَا طَلَاقَ قَبْلَ النِّكَاحِ، وَلَا عِتْقَ قَبْلَ الْمِلْكِ."
"There is no divorce before marriage, and no emancipation before ownership."
According to al-Muṣannaf of ʿAbd al-Razzāq and Sunan al-Kubrā of al-Bayhaqī (7/320-321, ḥadīth 13887), Miswar bin Makhramah reports:
This statement reached ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما that ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd رضي الله عنه said: “If one gives divorce to a woman he is not yet married to, it is valid.”
Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما responded:
"He has made a mistake. Allah says:"
﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا نَكَحْتُمُ الْمُؤْمِنَاتِ ثُمَّ طَلَّقْتُمُوهُنَّ مِن قَبْلِ أَن تَمَسُّوهُنَّ فَمَا لَكُمْ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِنْ عِدَّةٍ تَعْتَدُّونَهَا﴾
"O you who believe! When you marry believing women and then divorce them before you have touched them, then there is no waiting period upon them for you to count."
[al-Aḥzāb: 49]
Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما continued:
"Allah did not say: 'When you divorce believing women and then marry them.' Rather, He mentions divorce after the marriage, not before it."
Thus, it is clear that a divorce pronounced before a valid marriage contract is not effective.
This is the opinion of:
✔ ʿAlī رضي الله عنه
✔ ʿĀ’ishah رضي الله عنها
✔ Imām al-Shāfiʿī رحمه الله
✔ Imām Aḥmad رحمه الله
✔ Imām Isḥāq ibn Rāhwayh رحمه الله
✔ Dāwūd al-Ẓāhirī رحمه الله
✔ Majority of the Ahl al-Ḥadīth
Imām Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله also stated this in Zād al-Maʿād (5/217), affirming this as the stronger and correct view.
(وَاللهُ أَعْلَمُ وَعِلْمُهُ أَتَمُّ وَأَحْكَمُ)
Allah knows best, and His knowledge is most complete and most wise.
❖ Question:
If a person declares divorce upon his future wife before the marriage contract, will that divorce be valid?
❖ Answer:
Such a divorce is not considered valid.
Sayyidunā ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
"لَا نَذْرَ فِيمَا لَا يَمْلِكُ ابْنُ آدَمَ، وَلَا عِتْقَ فِيمَا لَا يَمْلِكُ، وَلَا طَلَاقَ فِيمَا لَا يَمْلِكُ."
"There is no vow regarding what the son of Adam does not own, no emancipation regarding what he does not own, and no divorce regarding what he does not own."
Reference: Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī, Kitāb al-Ṭalāq wa al-Laʿān, Bāb Mā Jāʾa Lā Ṭalāqa Qabla al-Nikāḥ, ḥadīth 1181
In Ibn Mājah (ḥadīth 2038), it is narrated from Miswar bin Makhramah رضي الله عنه that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
"لَا طَلَاقَ قَبْلَ النِّكَاحِ، وَلَا عِتْقَ قَبْلَ الْمِلْكِ."
"There is no divorce before marriage, and no emancipation before ownership."
Reference: Sunan Ibn Mājah: 2038
According to al-Muṣannaf of ʿAbd al-Razzāq and Sunan al-Kubrā of al-Bayhaqī (7/320-321, ḥadīth 13887), Miswar bin Makhramah reports:
This statement reached ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما that ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd رضي الله عنه said: “If one gives divorce to a woman he is not yet married to, it is valid.”
Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما responded:
"He has made a mistake. Allah says:"
﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا نَكَحْتُمُ الْمُؤْمِنَاتِ ثُمَّ طَلَّقْتُمُوهُنَّ مِن قَبْلِ أَن تَمَسُّوهُنَّ فَمَا لَكُمْ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِنْ عِدَّةٍ تَعْتَدُّونَهَا﴾
"O you who believe! When you marry believing women and then divorce them before you have touched them, then there is no waiting period upon them for you to count."
[al-Aḥzāb: 49]Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما continued:
"Allah did not say: 'When you divorce believing women and then marry them.' Rather, He mentions divorce after the marriage, not before it."
Thus, it is clear that a divorce pronounced before a valid marriage contract is not effective.
❖ Scholarly Consensus:
This is the opinion of:
✔ ʿAlī رضي الله عنه
✔ ʿĀ’ishah رضي الله عنها
✔ Imām al-Shāfiʿī رحمه الله
✔ Imām Aḥmad رحمه الله
✔ Imām Isḥāq ibn Rāhwayh رحمه الله
✔ Dāwūd al-Ẓāhirī رحمه الله
✔ Majority of the Ahl al-Ḥadīth
Imām Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله also stated this in Zād al-Maʿād (5/217), affirming this as the stronger and correct view.
(وَاللهُ أَعْلَمُ وَعِلْمُهُ أَتَمُّ وَأَحْكَمُ)
Allah knows best, and His knowledge is most complete and most wise.
