Divorced according to Canadian law.
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
(May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)
One of our brothers/sisters has asked
this question:
I live
in
Can I
re-marry her as I didnt say Talaq three times. Please advise.
(There may be some grammatical and spelling
errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from
questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in
confidentiality.)
Answer:
Divorced according
to Canadian law
In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His
help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide,
and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear
witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear
witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His
Messengers.
Your
Question: I filed for my divorce in Aug 2008. But this was only done through
Canadian laws and we got our divorce certicates. I didn`t said Talaq to her
even one time...is my divorce valid in islam.
There is allowance in Shariah for one to transfer their
divorce rights to an ‘attorney’, and if their nominated ‘attorney’ declares
divorce on the wife, that divorce will be legal and valid in the Sight of
Shariah Law and in the Sight of Allah Subhanah.
If you (the husband) yourself filed for a divorce in a
court of law, and the Judge of the court of law accepted your application and
granted the divorce in your marriage at your behest….then indeed one divorce
will be established between you and your wife in the Sight of Shariah Law and
in the Sight of Allah Subhanah, absolutely regardless of whether or not you
yourself declared the terms ‘I divorce you’ to your wife or not.
Your
Question: Can I re-marry her as I didnt say Talaq three times.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah
Baqarah verses 229-230:
229 A divorce is only permissible twice:
after that the parties should either hold together on equitable terms or
separate with kindness. It is not lawful
for you (men) to take back any of your gifts (from your wives) except when both
parties fear that they would be unable to keep the limits ordained by
Allah. If ye (judges) do indeed fear
that they would be unable to keep the limits ordained by Allah there is no
blame on either of them if she give something for her freedom. These are the
limits ordained by Allah; so do not transgress them. If any do transgress the limits ordained by
Allah such persons wrong (themselves as well as others).
230 So if a husband divorces his wife
(irrevocably) he cannot after that remarry her until after she has married
another husband and he has divorced her.
In that case there is no blame on either of them if they reunite
provided they feel that they can keep the limits ordained by Allah. Such are the limits ordained by Allah which
He makes plain to those who understand.
Islam guides that the first two divorce declarations in
any one marriage are revocable; thus if the judge of a Canadian court of law
accepted your application and declared a divorce at your behest in your
marriage……one divorce will be deemed established between you and your wife in
the marriage.
Because it was you who initiated the divorce, you are well
within your rights in Shariah to revoke the divorce before the expiry of the
‘iddah’ or waiting period of divorce which is three menstruation periods of the
wife. If you choose to revoke the
divorce or conjugate with your wife before the expiry of the ‘iddah’ or waiting
period, the divorce will be deemed revoked in the Sight of Shariah Law and the
two of you can live as a married couple again.
But if the ‘iddah’ or waiting period of divorce after the
declaration of divorce has elapsed, and then you intend to re-marry your
ex-wife again for the second time…..a brand new nikaah with a brand new ‘meher’
will have to be performed between you and your wife to enable the two of you to
live as a married couple again.
In both of the above scenarios where you exercise your
right to re-marry your divorced wife, you would have deemed to have used up one
of your two revocable divorce rights. If
Allah forbid, you were to divorce your wife again for the second time, you
still have the option to re-marry her; for the first two divorce declarations
in any one marriage are revocable in Shariah Law.
But if Allah forbid, you were to divorce her for a third
time, that divorce would be absolutely irrevocable….and it would be unlawful
and prohibited for the two of you to ever remarry again after the third
declaration of divorce, unless and until the wife perchance happens to marry
another husband, and her new husband of his own free will happens to divorce
her, or he dies.
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only
due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me
alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is
the Only Source of Strength.
Your brother and
well wisher in Islam,
Burhan
