Question Summary:
DIVORCE : As per Islam, a woman must be accompanied with MEHARAM for any travel, domestic or foreign. My husband, working in Riyadh, sent me to Home Country- Question Detail:
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Assalaam-u-alaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
QUESTION NO: 1
As per Islam, a woman must be accompanied with MEHARAM for any travel, domestic or foreign. My husband, working in Riyadh, sent me to Home Country- INDIA without MEHARAM for delivery of child at my father’s home with K.S.A Exit & Entry VISA for six months. On 15th day of birth of girl child , my husband ordered me to obtain passport for child and come back to Riyadh along with child without MEHARAM before expiry of VISA. I requested my husband to come to India being his social and Islamic responsibility. He refused to come to India and repeated his same order to me. I could not fulfill his order as my father was at duty place, 2600 KM away from home as well as not possessing VISA to drop me at Riyadh. There was no other male family member to accompany me as MEHARAM to Riyadh. My husband theafter contacted and dictated my father on phone,
“OBTAIN PASSPORT FOR BABY AND SEND HER WITH BABY TO RIYADH BEFORE EXPIRY OF HER VISA, OTHERWISE DO WHATEVER YOU WANT TO DO TO YOUR DAUGHTER AFTER EXPIRY OF HER VISA.”
Meanwhile, my VISA to Riyadh expired on 01.2009 and my husband intentionally not came to India to take me and child back to Riyadh within the validity of VISA. Even till date, my husband not visited India, though his Home Country. My father says that my husband has made me free (divorced) on the date of expiry of my VISA to Riyadh. Jinab Mufti Sahab, I request your good office to kindly provide Islamic Ruling in the context of above and on the aforesaid utterances of my husband for my future living and what type of DIVORCE affected on the date of expiry of my VISA. Also please answer my earlier question resubmitted on 06.2009. Matter is urgent and kindly answer my questions for the sake of ALLAH (SWT). Jazakallah.
QUESTION NO.2:
My Husband leveled the charges of adultery against me and pronounced me as non –Muslim. I demanded him to complete the divorce requirements by him as per law of land in the Country’s Court. The same demanded by my father. Contrary to that and without proving the charges, My Husband nominated his parents as his representative to deal with & finalize his divorce,
“I am not in favor of DIVORCE at all, but if you are inclined to it so much then talk to my parents on 08.11.2008 after they returned from Umerah.”
The parents of my Husband on 14.11.2008 communicated my father as well as to me the acceptance of the DIVORCE on behalf of their son without proving the charges,
“Anyhow I simply want to remind you concerning settlement of the issue i.e. If you & your daughter are determined to break the relationship without any solid reasons thinking DIVORCE is the only panacea for it, we reluctantly & unwillingly accept your proposal. But now lets us proceed further to finish it up once for all without lengthening it further for no use”
Viewing the above statements from my Husband & his parents, which type of Islamic Divorce is affected to me (the wife). I need the Islamic ruling for above for my future life / living. Please help me as the matter is urgent. Jazakallah.
Wassalam-u-Alaikum
Answer :
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Assalaamu `alaykum waRahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
1. Your husband’s demanding you to travel alone contradicts the Sharī’ah laws which prevent a woman from traveling without a mahram. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said,
حدثنا قتيبة بن سعيد حدثنا سفيان عن عمرو عن أبي معبد عن ابن عباس رضي الله عنهما أنه سمع النبي صلى الله عليه و سلم يقول لا يخلون رجل بامرأة ولا تسافرن امرأة وإلا معها محرم فقام رجل فقال يا رسول الله اكتتبت في غزوة كذا وكذا وخرجت امرأتي حاجة قال اذهب فحج مع امرأتك
(صحيح البخاري، كتاب الجهاد والسير، باب من اكتتب في جيش: 3/1094؛ ابن كثير)
A man cannot be in seclusion with a woman nor can a woman travel except with a mahram… (Bukhārī)
It is appalling that your husband not only ordered you to break clear rules of the Sharī’ah, but also had the audacity to issue strong words of anger for not breaking those rules.
Nonetheless, his words, “Do whatever you want to do to your daughter after expiry of her visa” are not clear words of divorce. Your husband needs to clarify what he intended with these words.
2. Unless your husband has four witnesses ready to testify that they saw you committing adultery, it is absolutely harām to accuse you of such a crime. Your husband needs to read the first few pages of Sūrah al-Nūr to understand the severity of accusing a chaste woman of adultery without providing witnesses to prove his case. Moreover, your husband must understand the gravity of his pronouncing you as a non-Muslim. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم mentioned that if a person calls another Muslim a kāfir, but that person is not in actuality a kāfir, then the accusation of kufr will return on him [i].
Once again, the statements of your husband are not clear enough to issue a ruling of divorce. Regarding his statement, “I am not in favor of divorce at all, but if you are inclined to it so much, then talk to my parents on 8/11/08 after they returned from ‘Umrah,” it is unclear whether he has made his parents his agent (wakīl) to issue a divorce on his behalf. Even if he did make them his agents, then your husband need to clarify whether this was only for 8/11/08 or any date after it, as well.
In both scenarios (questions 1 and 2), we suggest you contact a local ‘ālim and seek his services to question your husband on his statements and the intentions behind them. Furthermore, the ‘ālim (or other elder family members from your and your husband’s sides) may also try and convince your husband from being so reckless and irresponsible in his statements, as well as provide counseling on a healthier marriage between the two of you.
[i]
حدثنا إسماعيل قال حدثني مالك عن عبد الله بن دينار عن عبد الله بن عمر رضي الله عنهما أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم قال أيما رجل قال لأخيه يا كافر فقد باء بها أحدهما
(صحيح البخاري، كتاب الأدب، باب من أكفر أخاه بغير تأويل فهو كما قال: 5/2264؛ ابن كثير)
And Allah knows best
Wassalaamu `alaykum
Ml. Abrar Mirza,
Student Darul Iftaa
Checked and Approved by:
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Darul Iftaa, Madrassah In'aamiyyah
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