Women’s Rights in Islam in Relation to Divorce

Abstract

Abstract

Saba Samreen Ansari[1] & Sana Kousar[2]

 Islam does not encourage divorce. Prior to Islam, there were two extreme views regarding divorce. In some societies and religious doctrines, divorce could be sought only one of the spouses died or when adultery had been committed. Neither spouse was permitted to remarry after divorce. In some other societies, it was very easy to dissolve marriage bonds and there was no check against the abuse of the practice of divorce. In fact, the consequence of both too much restriction and too much liberalization is harmful. In the former case, i.e., keeping an unsuccessful marriage intact, a permanently bitter and hostile relation between the husband and wife develops. In the latter case, the family disintegrates as an institution and society as a whole suffers. In contrast to these extremes, Islam takes a moderate view on divorce in order to end the misery of an unsuccessful marriage. But it does not mean that Islam does not give the wife the right to break the marital bond whenever she wants so. It only checks the abuse of such a right. Thus, this article discusses the conditions under which a wife can unilaterally divorce her husband.

[1]    Ph.D. Research Scholar, CAS. Department of History, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, INDIA. Email: saba.star25@gmail.com.

[2]    Ph.D. Research Scholar, Department of Urdu, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, INDIA. Email: sanakouser2011@gmail.com