Returning in divorce

Priority: c, Quality: b
From wikishia

Returning in divorce (Arabic: الرجوع في الطلاق) means that a man who has divorced a woman, returns to his wife without reciting the marriage formula again. With return, the divorce will be revoked and the man and the woman will become husband and wife again. Returning can be made by speech or action and it is permissible only in returnable divorce and during 'idda period. In divorces of a wife at her own request (Khul') and (mubarat) when she redeems herself of marriage which are irrevocable, returning is not permissible, unless the woman withdraws from her giving during her 'idda period.

Divorce

Lifting marriage bond is called divorce. Similar to marriage, divorce is carried out by reciting a formula;[1] but, opposite to marriage, it is among unilateral contracts and is only carried out by the man.[2] In Islam, divorce is legitimate and permissible;[3] but according to hadiths, it is the most disapproved permissible act before God.[4]

Definition

Returning in divorce means that a man who has divorced his wife, makes her his wife again without reciting the formula of marriage again.[5] Doing so, the divorce will be revoked and the man and the woman become spouses again.[6]

Types

Returning can be made in two ways, by speech and by action:

  • Returning by speech is made by using any word which implies returning of the husband to his wife; by using expressions such as, "I am returning to you" or "I return you to the previous marriage".
  • Returning by action takes place when the man does an action which shows that he has made the woman his wife again. Returning by action may take place by kissing, touching or having intercourse with the wife.[7]

Rules

Some of the rules of returning in divorce are as follows:

  • Returning is permissible only in returnable divorce.[8] Therefore, in divorces of a wife at her own request (khul') and (mubarat) when she redeems herself of marriage which are irrevocable, returning is not permissible.[9]
  • In divorces of khul' and mubarat, if the woman withdraws from her giving during her 'idda period, the man can return to her.[10]
  • In case of returning the man, the woman should defer to him.[11]
  • If a man divorces his wife twice and after each time returns to her or recites the marriage formula between himself and her, after the third divorce, the woman will become forbidden to marry him; meaning that the man cannot return to or marry her; unless, the woman marries another man and in such a case, with some conditions, such as having intercourse with the second husband, she can marry again the first husband after the second husband divorces her or dies.[12]

Notes

  1. Mishkinī, Muṣṭalaḥāt al-fiqh wa iṣṭilāhāt al-uṣūl, p. 356.
  2. Mishkinī, Muṣṭalaḥāt al-fiqh wa iṣṭilāhāt al-uṣūl, p. 97.
  3. Farhang-i fiqh muṭābiq bā madhhab-i Ahl al-Bayt, vol. 5, p. 194.
  4. Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 6, p. 54.
  5. Farhang-i fiqh muṭābiq bā madhhab-i Ahl al-Bayt, vol. 4, p. 66.
  6. Farhang-i fiqh muṭābiq bā madhhab-i Ahl al-Bayt, vol. 4, p. 66.
  7. Farhang-i fiqh muṭābiq bā madhhab-i Ahl al-Bayt, vol. 4, p. 66.
  8. Farhang-i fiqh muṭābiq bā madhhab-i Ahl al-Bayt, vol. 5, p. 205.
  9. Mishkinī, Muṣṭalaḥāt al-fiqh wa iṣṭilāhāt al-uṣūl, p. 357.
  10. Khomeiniī, Tawḍīḥ al-masāʾil (muḥashā), vol. 2, p. 536-537.
  11. Farhang-i fiqh muṭābiq bā madhhab-i Ahl al-Bayt, vol. 5, p. 205-206.
  12. Rulings of Divorce, Official Website of Ayatollah Sistani.

References

  • Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb al-. Al-Kāfī. Edited by ʿAlī Akbar Ghaffārī. 4th edition. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmīyya, 1407 AH.
  • Khomeiniī, Sayyid Rūḥ Allāh. Tawḍīḥ al-masāʾil (muḥashā). Edited by Banī Hāshimī Khomeinī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥasan. 8th edition. Qom: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī, 1424 AH.
  • Mishkinī, ʿAlī. Muṣṭalaḥāt al-fiqh wa iṣṭilāhāt al-uṣūl. 1st edition. Beirut: Manshūrāt al-Riḍā, 1431 AH.
  • Muʾassisat Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif al-Fiqh al-Islāmī. Farhang-i fiqh muṭābiq bā madhhab-i Ahl al-Bayt. 1st edition. Qom: Muʾassisat Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif al-Fiqh al-Islāmī, 1392 Sh.
  • Rulings of Divorce (Persian). Official Website of Ayatollah Sistani. Accessed: 2024/01/01.