Excerpt: Fatawa Aman Puri by Sheikh Ghulam Mustafa Zahir Aman Puri
Question:
If a divorce is given out of fear for one's life, what is the ruling?
Answer:
The divorce given out of fear for one's life is considered forced divorce, and forced divorce does not take place. There are evidences from the Quran and Hadith regarding this, as well as clarifications from the Imams:
❀ Allah Almighty's statement is:
﴿مَنْ كَفَرَ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ بَعْدِ إِيمَانِهِ إِلَّا مَنْ أُكْرِهَ وَقَلْبُهُ مُطْمَئِنٌ بِالْإِيمَانِ﴾
Reference: (النحل : 106)
"Whoever disbelieves in Allah after his belief (upon him is the wrath of Allah), except for one who is forced, while his heart is at rest with faith."
One whose heart is firm in faith, if he is forced into disbelief, he does not become a disbeliever; similarly, if there is no intention of divorce, then forced divorce will not occur at all.
❀ Imam Ata bin Abi Rabah, may Allah have mercy on him, states:
الشرك أعظم من الطلاق
"Shirk (associating partners with Allah) is a greater matter than divorce."
Reference: (سنن سعيد بن منصور : 1142 ، وسنده صحيح)
❀ Imam Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on him, argues from this verse:
"When Allah Almighty has forgiven a person for disbelief in the case of compulsion, then all other statements made under compulsion are also forgiven, because when a major thing is forgiven, the minor things are automatically forgiven."
❀ Allama Ibn Rajab, may Allah have mercy on him, says:
"The Quran has explicitly stated about exceeding in error and forgetfulness... similarly, the Quran has explicitly stated about forgiveness for actions done under compulsion."
Reference: (جامع العلوم والحكم، ص 452)
❀ Sayyidina Abdullah bin Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, states:
"There is no divorce for the one who is forced and oppressed."
Reference: (سنن سعيد بن منصور : 1143 ، وسنده حسن)
❀ Thabit bin Iyyad Ahnaf, may Allah have mercy on him, narrates:
"I married the concubine of Abdul Rahman bin Zaid bin Al-Khattab. I went to her and entered upon her, and there were whips hanging. There were two iron shackles and two slaves seated. She said to me: 'Divorce your wife, or by Allah, I will do such and such to you.' I said: 'I will give her a thousand divorces.' I left her, and on the way to Makkah, I met Sayyidina Abdullah bin Umar, may Allah be pleased with them. I narrated my entire incident to him, and he became angry and said: 'This is not a divorce. That woman is not unlawful for you. You should return to your wife.' I was not at ease until I went to Sayyidina Abdullah bin Zubair, may Allah be pleased with them, and mentioned my incident and the words of Sayyidina Abdullah bin Umar. He also said that your wife is not unlawful for you, you should return to your wife."
Reference: (الموطا للإمام مالك : 376 ، ح : 1245، وسنده صحيح)
It is established that according to two esteemed companions, Sayyidina Abdullah bin Umar and Sayyidina Abdullah bin Zubair, may Allah be pleased with them, forced divorce does not occur.
Abu Al-Zinad, may Allah have mercy on him, narrates:
"I presented myself to Imam Umar bin Abdul Aziz, may Allah have mercy on him. A man was brought to him, who was from Banu Hatim, and was called Qamri. His tribe beat him to divorce his wife. They said: 'By Allah, we will not leave you until you give your wife three divorces, or we will kill you.' And they presented evidence for this incident, so Umar bin Abdul Aziz, may Allah have mercy on him, returned his wife to him."
Reference: (سنن سعيد بن منصور : 1132، وسنده حسن)
❀ Imam Ata bin Abi Rabah, may Allah have mercy on him, is reported to have said:
إنه كان لا يرى طلاق المكره شيئا
"He did not consider the divorce of the forced person at all."
Reference: (سنن سعيد بن منصور : 1141، وسنده صحيح)
❀ Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, regarding the one who gives forced divorce, states:
"It is hoped that nothing will happen to him."
He also states:
"The definition of being forced is that one fears for his life or fears severe beating."
Imam Ishaq bin Rahawiyah, may Allah have mercy on him, states that what Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, said is undoubtedly correct.
Reference: (مسائل أحمد وإسحاق برواية إسحاق بن منصور الكوسج : 958)
❀ Shah Waliullah, may Allah have mercy on him, mentions the evils of forced divorce:
"The second point is that if the divorce of a forced person is considered valid, then the door to coercion will be opened. It is likely that a powerful person will overpower a weak person in such a way that people will not know, and he will threaten him with weapons and, if he has an inclination towards his wife, will force him to divorce her. If we thwart his intention and return his desire, this will be a means to prevent the oppression done by coercion among people."
Reference: (حجة الله البالغة : 138/2)
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him
Reference: (مجموع الفتاوی : 33/110)
, and Allama Ibn Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him
Reference: (زاد المعاد : 204/5، اعلام الموقعین : 3/108، تہذیب السنن : 187/6)
, and others also hold that forced divorce does not occur.❀ Hafiz Ibn Hajar, may Allah have mercy on him, writes:
"The majority opinion is that whatever occurs under compulsion will not be considered valid."
Reference: (فتح الباري : 390/9)
❀ Allama Ibn Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him
Reference: (751ھ)
, states:"Based on this, every statement of a forced person is void. It has no validity. The Quran has informed that if a person utters a word of disbelief under compulsion, he will not be a disbeliever, and if someone is compelled to Islam, he will not be a Muslim. The Sunnah has informed that Allah Almighty has forgiven the forced person; He will not hold him accountable... As for the actions of the forced person, there is detail: actions that are permissible under compulsion are forgiven, such as eating during the days of Ramadan, moving in prayer, and wearing sewn clothes while in the state of Ihram, etc. And for those things that are not permissible due to compulsion, there will be accountability, such as killing an innocent person, destroying his property. The difference between statements and actions is that once actions occur, their corruption cannot be removed; rather, their corruption remains with them, unlike statements which can be annulled and considered like those of a sleeping person or a madman. The corruption of an action that is not permissible under compulsion is established, unlike the corruption of a statement which is established only when the speaker is aware of it and is not forced."
❀ Allama Ibn Hazm, may Allah have mercy on him, states:
هذا تلاعب بالدين، ونعوذ بالله من ذلك
"Considering the divorce of a forced person is playing with the religion. We seek refuge in Allah from such actions."
Reference: (المحلى بالآثار : 205/10)
