Islamic Rulings on Marriage and Divorce: A Comprehensive Guide

Marriage and Divorce in Islam: Obligatory, Forbidden, Disliked, Permissible, and Recommended

THE LEGISLATED PRINCIPLES REGARDING MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE

Shaikh Muhammad bin Sālih Al-‘Uthaimīn (may ALLĀH have mercy on him) was asked:

When is marriage and divorce considered to be:

● Obligatory ● Forbidden ● Disliked ● Permissible ● Recommended?

The Shaikh stated:

Marriage is:

OBLIGATORY if one fears falling into fornication and he has the ability (to marry).

FORBIDDEN if one is in a hostile land which is at war; likewise if a person intends to marry again however fears that he will be unable to exercise justice between them.

DISLIKED if he is destitute and has no sensuous desire.

PERMISSIBLE if one is affluent yet has no sensuous desire.

RECOMMENDED – and that is the origin.

The Shaikh stated: Divorce is:

OBLIGATORY if one has taken an oath of abstinence from his wife (to refrain from marital relations) – and that the husband does not return. Therefore if four months have passed we would say to the husband that either you return and resume sexual relations or that you necessarily divorce.

FORBIDDEN when done as an innovation, such as the divorce being given during menstruation. Or that during her time of purity he has sexual relations with her, however whether she has conceived or not has not become clear.

RECOMMENDED if the woman dislikes living with her husband.

PERMISSIBLE if the need arises for that on behalf of the husband.

DISLIKED in that which is an exception to these; this is because the origin of divorce is that it is disliked due to that which it entails from the dissolution of the legislated stipulations of the marriage – as well as the division/splitting of the family.

{Taken from: Fawāid wa musābaqāt al-mi-een min fatāwā wa duroos Ibn ‘Uthaimeen || Page 340 & 342}