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In Islam a man can revoke the divorce
he gives to his wife within the period of ‘idah’*
. After the expiry of the period of ‘idah, the divorce is finalised and
the husband and wife stand separated as a man and a woman, after which
they can marry again if they so desire.
In this verse, the verb tankiHa (until ‘she marries’) has been used. nikaH is a well-known term in the divine law and refers to marriage, which is a contract made by a man and woman who intend to live their lives together as husband and wife. Where the intention is to do that for a specific period of time, the appropriate word for such a contract seems to be prostitution, not nikah, for such a ‘marriage’ is not nikaH -- it is a subterfuge. Moreover, it is also obvious from the words ‘Then, if the other husband divorces her’ that the divorce must not have been planned at the beginning of the marriage. The particle of condition, in, used here in fa’in talaqaha (Then, if he divorces her) is used for exceptional and contingent situations, that is such situations as are rare or happen by chance. Writes Islahi about the usage of in:
It must also be mentioned here that it is obvious from the Hadiith (saying of the Prophet sws) usually referred to as Hadiith-e-`usailah (bukhaarii, kitaabullibaas) that even if the contract of nikah is valid, merely the desire on the part of the woman to return to her ex-husband is not a valid basis for the court to grant her divorce. |
*. The waiting period
of three menstrual cycles, which comes to around three months.
**. For details see Moiz Amjad, kitaabul talaaq, fiqhe sunnah (Urdu) Al-Maurid, 98(2) E, Model Town, Lahore. |