Question Summary:
Doubt: Did husband give wife tafweedh of talaaq in marriage contract?

Question Detail:

AssalamoAlaikum, My nikkah cermony happened about 15 years ago. What I remember that long time back someone from family came and i said qabool and then signed the nikkah nama. I had been researching on internet and found out about Tafwid which means husband can give right to the wife to divorce. I remember long time back my mum was talking about it before my nikkah. But I am not sure whether there was yes on nikkah nama in place of tafwid. I asked my mum and she said that the right hasn’t been given and they crossed that out. But my mind is still stuck there. I live overseas and asked my dad to get my nikkah nama from the molvi but hez also struggling calling him and asking him. In case of not finding original or copy nikkah nama What should i assume whether I have a right or not? I don’t want to have right as i am a person full of waswasas. Since i read about tafwid and delegation it has made my life miserable. I keep thinking if i say certain word or sentence it may cause divorce and sometimes the word divorce comes to my mind without me having intention of it. Then i keep thinking and keeps getting confused whether i had intention or not. I never have bad intention but my thoughts force me to think that i may had bad intention. Now its interrupting my normal conversation with other people. When i want to say something the thought stops me to say something or else if i continue normal conversation by denying the bad thought about divorce it makes me think that i may had intention. Today i was praying asar salah and reciting surah Fatiha and the word divorce came to my mind and I couldn’t get it out of my thought/ mind and kept reading Surah Fatiha. Then i got worried that i may had bad intention because I didn’t deny bad thought in my mind. Whenever i have a bad thought of divorce i keep saying no no or no bad intention in my mind to ignore it but in normal conversation its so hard to avoid that thought. I am getting mad i get so many bad thoughts of divorce and i never have bad intention. And i keep getting confused about my intentions and keep thinking whether i had intention or not. The thoughts are making me confused and so sad all the times. These thoughts are disturbing my normal routine of having conversations and its happening so frequently in a day. I have doubts on what i say about 3-4 times a day or a bit more roughly. 1. Does wife’s kinaya words of divorce cause divorce if she has tafwid right ( delegation by husband)? 2. In case of not knowing what was in nikkah nama, what should i assume whether i have a right or not? We also signed marriage certificate overseas after that nikkah nama and that certificate doesn’t have any conditions 3. Does bad thought of divorce in mind while reciting surah fatiha cause divorce? 4. Does wife also use eela words? Is it valid or only to be used by the husband? I don’t want to have tafwid as i am a person full of waswasas.

Answer :

In the Name of Allaah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salaamu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullaahi wa-barakaatuh.

Sister in Islaam,

We take note of the contents of your query. May Allaah Ta’aala alleviate you from your predicament.

Your waswasahs (whispers) are from Shaitaan. You should simply ignore such wandering thoughts.

You state that your mother has denied the tafweedh of talaaq, rather it was crossed out in the marriage contract. That is sufficient to say that the right of divorce was not granted to you. Moreover, the default position in a marriage is the wife does not have the right of divorce unless granted by the husband. Furthermore, tafweedh of talaaq is governed by strict conditions. The mere thought of talaaq or similar statements by the wife does not constitute divorce.

To overcome your waswasah problem, we advise you to recite the following abundantly,

أعوذُ باِللهِ مِنَ الشَّيطَانِ الرَّجِيم^[1]

Translation: I seek refuge in Allaah from the rejected devil.

لاحول ولا قوة إلا بالله

Translation: There is no power and no might except with Allaah.

You may also read the following book: Combating the Whisperings of Shaitan by Shaykh Yunus Patel (Rahimahullaah) for effective methods on dealing with waswasah.  

And Allaah Ta’aala Knows Best.   

Muajul I. Chowdhury

Student, Darul Iftaa

Astoria, New York, USA

Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.

______

^[1]  سورة فصلت (آية 36)

{وَإِمَّا يَنْزَغَنَّكَ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ نَزْغٌ فَاسْتَعِذْ بِاللَّهِ إِنَّهُ هُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ}

سورة المؤمنون (97، 98)

{وَقُلْ رَبِّ أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ هَمَزَاتِ الشَّيَاطِينِ (97) وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ رَبِّ أَنْ يَحْضُرُونِ}