In many books of Hadith, the incident of Li’an between ‘Uwaimir al-‘Ajlani (may Allah be pleased with him) and his wife is mentioned. It has been narrated by several Companions, including Sahl bin Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him). From him, his student Imam al-Zuhri (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated this hadith, and then many of al-Zuhri’s students narrated it from him. Among them, the words of Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) are:
قال سهل:’’فتلاعنا وأنا مع الناس عند رسول اللّٰه صلى اللّٰه عليه وسلم، فلما فرغا، قال عويمر:كذبت عليها يا رسول اللّٰه إن أمسكتها، فطلقها ثلاثا، قبل أن يأمره رسول اللّٰه صلى اللّٰه عليه وسلم‘‘
Sahl bin Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “So they both performed Li’an, and I was with the people in the presence of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). When they finished, ‘Uwaimir (may Allah be pleased with him) said: ‘O Messenger of Allah! If I keep her now, it means I have lied about her.’ So he divorced her three times before the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) commanded him.”
[Sahih al-Bukhari: 7/42, Hadith: 5259]
Citing this incident, some people argue that three divorces given at once are effective.
It is submitted that:
Firstly:
The incident of Li’an occurred twice during the time of the Prophet (ﷺ).
The First Incident:
The incident of Hilal bin Umayyah (may Allah be pleased with him):
His incident has been narrated by the following three Companions:
In none of the narrations from these three Companions is there any mention of divorce after Li’an, which is strong evidence that Li’an does not require a divorce; rather, the mere act of Li’an brings about a permanent and final separation between the husband and wife.
The Second Incident:
The incident of ‘Uwaimir al-‘Ajlani (may Allah be pleased with him):
His incident has been narrated by the following three Companions:
In the hadith of ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) and ‘Abdullah bin ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) among these three Companions, there is also no mention of divorce after Li’an, which is evidence that in this incident too, the separation occurred only through Li’an.
And the hadith of Sahl bin Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) was narrated by Imam al-Zuhri, and all of al-Zuhri’s students also agree that the separation occurred through Li’an.
And after the Li’an, some of his students, such as Ibn Abi Dhi’b (Bukhari: Hadith: 7304), Fulayh (Bukhari: Hadith: 4746), Ibrahim bin Sa’d (Ibn Majah: Hadith: 2066 with an authentic chain), and ‘Aqil bin Khalid (Musnad Ahmad: 5/337 with an authentic chain), etc., mentioned that then ‘Uwaimir “فارقہا” (separated from her).
And some of Imam al-Zuhri’s students mentioned that after the Li’an, he divorced his wife, but they mentioned the divorce in three ways:
Looking at all these hadiths related to Li’an, the conclusion is that in the incident of Hilal bin Umayyah (may Allah be pleased with him), no one mentioned divorce, which is evidence that Li’an is neither a divorce nor does it require one.
And in the incident of ‘Uwaimir al-‘Ajlani (may Allah be pleased with him), the two narrating Companions, ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar and ‘Abdullah bin ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them), did not mention divorce in this incident either, which is evidence that no divorce was given in it.
And the hadith of the third Companion who narrated this second incident, Sahl bin Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him), was transmitted by Imam al-Zuhri, and many of his students also did not mention divorce but only separation. And the students who did mention divorce, this is a narration of the meaning (Riwayah bil-Ma’na) by Imam al-Zuhri (may Allah have mercy on him), in that al-Zuhri himself understood this separation as a divorce and expressed it with the word divorce.
Thus, sometimes Imam al-Zuhri mentioned separation, sometimes divorce, and sometimes three divorces, by which he meant emphasis, as is clear from the narration of Ibn Ishaq and Imam Malik.
Responding to the objection of Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) on the narration of Ibn Ishaq, ‘Allamah al-Mu’allimi (may Allah have mercy on him) has provided this very clarification. Thus:
Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) raised this objection on the narration of Muhammad bin Ishaq:
’’ وقد تفرد بهذه الزيادة ولم يتابع عليها وكأنه رواه بالمعني لاعتقاده منع جمع الطلقات الثلاث بكلمة واحدة ‘‘
“Ibn Ishaq is alone in narrating this addition and has not been followed, and it seems he narrated it by meaning because he held the view that giving three divorces in a single phrase is forbidden.”
[Fath al-Bari by Ibn Hajar, Dar al-Ma’rifah: 9/451]
‘Allamah al-Mu’allimi (may Allah have mercy on him) responds to this, saying:
’’ أقول: لم يذكر الزهري صفة الطلاق إلا فى هذه الرواية،وابن إسحاق أعلم باللّٰه من أن يسمع من ابن شهاب قوله: فطلقها ثلاثًا فيري هذا المعني مخالفًا لرأيه، فيعمد إلى إبداله بما يوافق مذهبه على أنه من لفظ الملاعن، وهذا تبديلٌ وتحريفٌ، لا رواية بالمعني۔وليس اتهامه بذالك بأقوي من احتمال أن يكون الزهري كان ربما زاد لفظ ثلاثًا لما فهمه من أن الطلاق كان باتًّا، بسبب أن النبى صلى اللّٰه عليه وسلم فرق بينهما الفرقة الباتة، وظن أن سبب التفرقة تلك هو الطلاق، وإن صارت السنة بعد ذالك الفرقة المؤبدة، ولو بلا لفظ طلاق۔وفي الصحيحين بعد ذكر الطلاق، قال ابن شهاب وهو الزهري: فكانت سنة المتلاعنين ، وفي رواية وكان ذالك تفريقًا بين كل متلاعنين۔ على أن قوله: فطلقها ثلاثًا محتملٌ احتمالاً قريبًا أن يكون معناه: كرَّر الطلاقَ ثلاثًا، فيكون طلَّق تطليقة، ولكن أكّد تأكيدًا لفظيًا۔ويؤيد هذا اقتصار ابن شهاب تارةً على طلَّقها ، وتارةً على فارقها۔ وعلي هذا، فرواية ابن إسحاق إنما كانت تفيد طلقة واحدة، إلا أنه أكّد اللفظ، فأعاده ثلاثًا، كما فهمه ابن حجر، فهي مفسَّرة للروايات الأخري، لا مخالفة ‘‘
“I (‘Allamah al-Mu’allimi) say: Al-Zuhri only mentioned the manner of the divorce in this narration of Ibn Ishaq. And Ibn Ishaq is more fearful of Allah than to hear from Ibn Shihab his words ‘فطلقہا ثلاثًا’ (he divorced her three times) and then, finding this meaning contrary to his own opinion, intentionally change it to what agrees with his madhhab, claiming it was the wording of the one performing Li’an. This would be alteration and distortion, not narration by meaning! And accusing Ibn Ishaq of this is not stronger than the possibility that al-Zuhri himself might have added the word ‘three’ because he understood the divorce to be final, as the Prophet (ﷺ) had decreed a final separation between them. So al-Zuhri assumed that the cause of this separation was the divorce, even though the established Sunnah later became permanent separation, even without the word of divorce. And in the Sahihayn, after mentioning the word divorce, Ibn Shihab, who is al-Zuhri, said: ‘So this became the Sunnah for those who perform Li’an,’ and in another narration, al-Zuhri’s words are: ‘And this was a separation between every couple who performed Li’an.’ Moreover, al-Zuhri’s words ‘فطلقہا ثلاثًا’ (he divorced her three times) carry a strong probability of meaning: ‘كرَّر الطلاقَ ثلاثًا’ (he repeated the word ‘divorce’ three times). In that case, it would be a single divorce, but he emphasized it verbally. This is supported by the fact that Ibn Shihab sometimes used the word ‘طلقہا’ (he divorced her) and at other times ‘فارقہا’ (he separated from her). Based on this, Ibn Ishaq’s narration would also mean that he gave a single divorce but repeated the word for emphasis, as Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) understood. Therefore, Ibn Ishaq’s narration is an explanation of the other narrations, not a contradiction.”
[Athar al-Shaykh al-‘Allamah ‘Abd al-Rahman bin Yahya al-Mu’allimi al-Yamani: 17/639]
‘Allamah al-Mu’allimi’s (may Allah have mercy on him) response clarifies that Ibn Ishaq’s narration is indeed an explanation of the other narrations, so Ibn Ishaq is not alone in his account. However, it is also clear that Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) has also followed him with the exact same words as Ibn Ishaq, as mentioned before, so the claim of him being alone is incorrect in any case.
If someone says that the narration Imam Malik narrated separately from al-Zuhri does not contain such words, then the response is that Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated from al-Zuhri in both ways. Just as al-Zuhri’s student, Ibn Jurayj, sometimes narrated from al-Zuhri with the words “فطلقہا ثلاثا” (he divorced her three times) [Sahih al-Bukhari: 7/54, Hadith: 5309] and sometimes with the words “ثم فارقہا” (then he separated from her) [Mustakhraj Abi ‘Awanah: 3/199, Hadith: 4675, and its chain is authentic].
The same is the case with Imam Malik; he also narrated with both types of wording.
This detailed explanation clarifies that in the hadith of Sahl bin Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) as well, the word for divorce was not used by the Companion who performed Li’an; rather, Imam al-Zuhri (may Allah have mercy on him), narrating by meaning according to his understanding, interpreted the separation as a divorce.
Secondly:
The narration of Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi explicitly states that the separation in Li’an occurred without a divorce. The words of this narration are:
’’وقضي رسول اللّٰه صلى اللّٰه عليه وسلم أن لا ترمي، ولا يرمي ولدها، ومن رماها ورمي ولدها جلد الحد، وليس لها عليه قوت ولا سكني؛ من أجل أنهما يتفرقان بغير طلاق ‘‘
“And the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) decreed that the woman should not be accused, nor should her child be taunted. Whoever accuses her or taunts her child will receive the prescribed punishment (hadd). And the man who performed Li’an is not responsible for her food or lodging because they are separating without a divorce.”
[Musnad Abi Dawud al-Tayalisi: 4/391, Hadith: 2789, and its chain is authentic. And from the route of Abu Dawud, it was narrated by Ibn Shabbah in Tarikh al-Madinah: 2/379, and Ibn Abi Hatim in his Tafsir: 8/2533, Hadith: 14182, and al-Bayhaqi in his Sunan: 7/647 and in al-Khilafiyat: 6/360]
This hadith explicitly states that the separation that occurs in Li’an is without a divorce. This is also evidence that a divorce was not given in the incident of Li’an, and the narration that mentions divorce is a narration by meaning from Imam al-Zuhri, who understood the separation as a divorce and expressed it as such.
Thirdly:
Even if we were to accept that in the hadith of Sahl bin Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him), the word for divorce was used by the Companion who performed Li’an, it has already been detailed earlier that this was a single divorce, but the word for divorce was repeated for emphasis and repetition. Furthermore, the word divorce here is not used in its technical sense but in its linguistic sense, meaning to leave the woman, just as in a hadith about Khul’ (divorce initiated by the wife), the word divorce is used in its linguistic sense. It was narrated by Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), in which the Prophet (ﷺ) said to the husband granting Khul’:
’’اقبل الحدیقۃ وطلقہا تطلیقۃ ‘‘، “Accept the garden and set her free.” [Sahih al-Bukhari 7/46, Hadith: 5273]
In this hadith, divorce is used in its linguistic sense, meaning to leave and set free.
Thus, regarding Khul’, Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) himself says:
’’ إنما ہو فرقۃ وفسخ ، لیس بطلاق ‘‘ “Khul’ is a separation and annulment, not a divorce.” [Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah, Dar al-Faruq: 6/438, and its chain is authentic]
This clarifies that Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) took the word divorce used in the hadith he narrated about Khul’ in its linguistic sense.
Fourthly:
Even if we were to accept that the Companion who performed Li’an gave three divorces in one phrase without repetition or emphasis, this hadith is still related to Li’an, so it has no connection to divorce. And the three divorces ‘Uwaimir (may Allah be pleased with him) gave after completing the Li’an were out of place because his wife had already become separated from him and a stranger to him merely through the Li’an, and divorcing a stranger is inappropriate and out of place.
That the woman becomes separated and a stranger merely through Li’an is further clarified by the following hadith. Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) says:
’’ قال النبى صلى اللّٰه عليه وسلم للمتلاعنين:حسابكما على اللّٰه، أحدكما كاذب، لا سبيل لك عليها ‘‘
“The Prophet (ﷺ) said to the two who performed Li’an: ‘Your account is with Allah. One of you is a liar. You have no way to [get back to] her.'”
[Sahih al-Bukhari: 7/55, Hadith: 5312]
In addition to this, the following points also indicate that there is no meaning to a divorce after Li’an:
These proofs make it clear that Li’an is not a divorce at all, so using the word divorce after Li’an is out of place. Therefore, using it as evidence is also incorrect.
Now if someone says that even if Li’an is not a divorce and this was not the time or place for a divorce, but when ‘Uwaimir (may Allah be pleased with him) gave three divorces at once, the Prophet (ﷺ) should have corrected him, but the Prophet’s (ﷺ) silence would mean that if someone else, in another situation away from Li’an, gives three divorces, it would be valid.
To this doubt, we have two answers:
First Answer:
If the Prophet’s (ﷺ) silence proves that giving three divorces makes three valid, then it must also be accepted that giving three divorces at once is also permissible and not an innovation (bid’ah), because the Prophet (ﷺ) did not correct the giving of three divorces at once either. But the opposing party does not accept this; rather, in their view, giving three divorces at once is an innovation because it is against the Qur’an and Sunnah.
Now, whatever answer the opposing party gives to this will be our answer as well.
Second Answer:
In fact, ‘Uwaimir (may Allah be pleased with him) did not use the word divorce here in its technical sense, because it was not the time for giving a divorce in the technical sense. Rather, ‘Uwaimir (may Allah be pleased with him) used this word in its linguistic sense, meaning to leave and separate. The proof for this is that in many chains of this same narration, the word “فارقہا” (he separated from her) is used instead of “طلقہا” (he divorced her).
So when it was not a technical divorce, there was no need to correct it.
In fact, in the matter of Khul’, the Prophet (ﷺ) himself used the word divorce in its linguistic sense. Then, obviously, if a Companion used this word in its linguistic sense, why would the Prophet (ﷺ) correct him?
By: Kifayatullah Sanabali
Reference: https://ahlussunnah.net/?p=398
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