Islam and the Muslim religion define some very specific rules for the Muslim people, mainly via their holy book: the Qur’an. Although the Muslim faith maintains that divorce is ultimately undesirable, and against the fundamental teachings of the religion, it is not illegal or inherently ‘wrong’. In the event of a divorce between two Muslim people, they will turn to the Qur’an and its detailed advice on how a divorce should be carried out.
Time Periods
Muslims follow a set of time frames when going through a divorce, each pertaining to a different stage of the process. First of all, a couple needs to wait for four months after deciding to have a divorce and making the decision final. This can be thought of as a ‘cooling off period’ so that both parties can be sure that this is what they really want. Sometimes when a couple makes the decision to divorce, it is after a particularly emotional or heated argument and once a week or even a month has passed they change their minds.
At a later stage, divorced women who are still living in the marital household must be supported financially for 12 months. Both parties have the right to live in the marital home, but the husband only need support his ex-wife for the year following a divorce settlement.
In order to remarry after a divorce, women who are able to conceive must wait three months, or three menstrual cycles until they do so. In addition, post menopausal women must also wait three months and widows must wait four months and ten days. This is to ensure that the woman is not pregnant by her ex husband. If she were to have fallen pregnant by her ex husband then he is legally allowed to marry her, whether that is what she wants or not. If the woman hasn’t fallen pregnant by her ex husband, however, then she is legally allowed to become engaged within those three or four months and ten days since the divorce or death of the husband. Many couples choose to keep their engagement during this time a secret.
Third Party Buffers
Any couple who are considering divorce are, by law, required to have two arbitrators to oversee the situation and take part in the final decision. One of these third parties must be a relative or close friend of the husband, and the other a relative or close friend of the wife. In the event that one spouse wants a divorce and the other doesn’t, then the choice of the arbitrators will be taken, even if this contradicts the party that they are representing. Using arbitrators avoids cases where one party is in emotional denial about the breakup of their marriage, or driven by anger to contest it. It essentially makes sure that what is best for both parties is the final action taken.