ARE THREE TALAQS PRONOUNCED ONE TIME ONE OR THREE ! QURAN AL FAJR: “QURAN AL FAJR: “Divorce is twice; then either to retain in the recognized manner or to release in fairness. And it is not lawful for you to take back anything from what you have given them, unless both apprehend that they would not be able to maintain the limits set by Allah. Now, if you apprehend that they would not maintain the limits set by Allah, then, there is no sin on them in what she gives up to secure her release. These are the limits set by Allah. Therefore, do not exceed them. And whosoever exceeds limits set by Allah, then, those are the transgressors. Thereafter, if he divorces her, she shall no longer remain lawful for him unless she marries a man other than him. Should he too divorce her, and then there is no sin on them in their returning to each other, if they think they would maintain the limits set by Allah. And these are the limits set by Allah that He makes clear to a people who know (Verses 229 - 230)”. THEQURAN ILLUSTRATED 29TH AUGUST 2014: “Now the above discussion proves this much that holding three talaqs as three was a decision of the Holy Prophet himself .However, at this point, an incident related to Sayyidna Faruq al...Azam (RA), which has been reported in Sahih Muslim and: several other books of hadith raises a problem. The words are: It has been reported from Sayyidna ibn ‘Abbas (RA) that during the times of the Holy Prophet (SAW) and during the first two years of the caliphate of Sayyidna Umar (RA) three talaqs were taken as one. So, Sayyidna Umar said: People are becoming haste-prone in a matter in which there was a room for deferment for them. Therefore, it would be appropriate if we enforce it on them. Then he enforced it on them. (Sahih Muslim, page 477, volume 1) This declaration of Sayyidna Umar al-Faruq was made publicly in the presence of Sahabah (Companions) and Tabi’in (their successors) --after consultation with Sahabah having expertise in Fiqh. Rejection or hesitation by any one of them has not been reported. Therefore, Imam Ibn Abd al-Barr al-Maliki has reported a consensus on this; the following words appear in al-Zurqani Sharh al-Muatta:“The overwhelming majority of the scholars of Shari’ah is of the view that three simultaneous talaqs become effective. In fact, Ibn Abd al-Barr, while reporting ijma (consensus) on this, has said: The contrary of this is not worth consideration.”(Al-Zurqani: Sharh al-Muatta: page 167, v.3) And Al-Nawawi says in Sharh Muslim: “Imam al-Shafi’i, Imam Malik, Imam Abu Hanifah, Imam Ahmad and a large number of earlier and later ulama have said that three talaqs do become effective. And Taw‘us and some Zahiri adherents have said what becomes effective with this is one talaq only”. (Sharh Muslim, page 475, volume 1) Imam al-Tahawi says in Sharh Ma’ani al- Athar: “So, Sayyidna ‘Umar addressed people on this subject publicly, and present among those were Companions of the Holy Prophet who knew about the method practiced prior to this during the time of the Holy Prophet. But no one from among them challenged it and no one from among them rejected it. (Sharh al-Maani; p. 29, v.2) In the event cited above, no doubt, the course of action for the Muslim community has been laid down with the consensus of Sahabah and Tabiin, warning that giving three talaqs simultaneously is certainly a cause of the anger of the Holy Prophet (SAW) , and therefore undesirable, but despite this, anyone who commits this mistake will end up finding that his wife has become unlawful for him, and thereafter, not to become lawful again, unless she goes through the process of marriage and divorce with another man. Intellectually and theoretically, two questions arise here. First: As stated earlier with the support of several hadith reports, it stands proved that the Holy Prophet has himself enforced three talaqs on those who gave three talaqs simultaneously. They were not permitted by him to revoke the divorce pronouncements or enter into a fresh marriage contract. What would then be the meaning of what Sayyidna Abdullāh ibn Abbas said in relation to this incident, that is, during the times of the Prophet, during the Siddiqi caliphate, and upto to two years, during the Faruqi caliphate, three talaqs were taken as one when Sayyidna Faruq al-Azam gave the ruling about three talaqs. The second question is that if it is accepted that three talaqs were taken as one during the times of the Holy Prophet and the Siddiqi caliphate, how i t was that Sayyidna Faruq al-Azam (RA) changed this decision? And even if, supposedly, a mistake was made by him, how did all the Sahabah present there accept it?Both these questions have been answered variously by respected fuqaha and muhaddithin. The most clear and unburdened answer given is the one by Imam Nawawi which he has reported in Sharh Muslim calling it the most authentic suggesting that this executive order of Sayyidna Faruq al-Azam and the total agreement (asha) of the noble Sahabah upon it, should be related to a particular form of three talaqs in which someone might say three times: You are divorced, you are divorced, you are divorced -- or he might say: I divorce you, I divorce you, I divorce you. This situation, meaning-wise, has two possibilities. (1) The pronouncer may have said these words with the intention of giving three talaqs. (2) The three repeated pronouncements were simply for the sake of emphasis without any intention of giving three talaqs, and it is obvious that the knowledge of intention can come only through the statement of the pronouncer. During the blessed times of the Holy Prophet (SAW) truth and honesty were common and dominant. If, after using such words, someone stated that he did not intend to give three talaqs, instead, the words were said repeatedly just for the sake of emphasis, the Holy Prophet (SAW) would then confirm his sworn statement and rule that this was only one talaq. This is corroborated by the hadith of Sayyidna Rukana (RA),which says that he had divorced his wife with the word, albattah.This word was spoken for three talaqs in common Arab usage but the sense of three was not clear in it. Sayyidna Rukana (RA) said: I never intended three talaqs with this word. In fact, I wanted to give one talaq. The Holy Prophet & put him on oath to which he swore.Then, he ruled it to be only one talaq. This hadith appears in al-Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah and al-Darimi with different chains of authorities and in different words. Some of the words also indicate that Sayyidna Rukana (RA) had given three talaqs to his wife. But, Abu Dawud has preferred the position that Sayyidna Rukana, in reality, had given talaq by using the word albattah. Since this word was used for three talaqs in common usage, some narrator has interpreted it as three talaqs. In any case, this hadith proves, as generally agreed upon, that the Holy Prophet (RA) ruled Sayyidna Rukana’s talaq to be one only when he declared on oath that he did not intend to give three talaqs. This too, indeed, proves that he had not pronounced the words of three talaqs explicitly and clearly, otherwise there would have remained no Possibility of his having not intended three talaqs and consequently, there would have been no need to question him. The incident clarifies that if the words of talaq had two possibilities about whether the husband had actually intended to give three talaqs or he had used the words of divorce thrice just for the sake of emphasis, and had actually intended to give one talaq only, the Holy Prophet (SAW) ruled only after a solemn declaration under oath, that it was one because those were the days of truth and honesty and the chance that someone would take a false oath was far too remote. This practice continued during the caliphate of Sayyidna Siddiq al-Akbar and during the first two years of the caliph-a tee of Sayyidna -Faruq al-Azam. It was during his time that Sayyidna Faruq al-Azam realized that the standard of truth and honesty was on the decline now and according to the prophecy made in hadith will further decline in the future. On the other hand, incidents became numerous wherein those who pronounced the words of divorce three times started declaring that their intention was that of one talaq only. It was then realized that should the practice of ruling (three talaqs as) one talaq following confirmation of the statement of intent by the pronouncer of talaq continue like this into the future, it will not be too far when people start misusing this concession given by the Shariah and go about lying that their intention was for one talaq just to take a wife back. All Sahabah, finding the intelligence and far-sightedness of Sayyidna Faruq al-Azam in the management of religion (din) as correct, agreed with him. These were blessed people who knew the thinking of the Holy Prophet (SAW). They came to the conclusion that, should he be present in their particular time, surely he too, would not rule on the basis of the intention hidden in hearts and on the statement given by the person concerned. Therefore, the law he made for this purpose declared that whosoever repeats the word of talaq three times will find his very three talaqs ruled as effective. His contention -- that he had intended to give only one -- would not be considered (in the courts) as valid.”(Source Maarif al Quran, vol.1, pp - 587 - 589)
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 04:16:37 +0000
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