Fatwa ID: 07713
Answered by: Alimah Maryam Badshah
Question:
Assalamualaikum respected mufti sahab I am extremely depressed to death please help me as I’ve made a lot of mistakes in life.
Here under is my query:
Mufti sahab, 19 months ago my nikah ended due to my explicit kufr statement. I uttered kufr willingly to get out of my marriage because I used to get a lot of whispers of divorce, the kufr which I uttered was that I don’t believe in Allah and I know that I made a grave mistake mufti saheb, I realise it now.
After that, I did not remarry her because I used to get a lot of whispers of divorce, so I thought I will only marry her when I will become mentally sound, but the thing is when I asked the muftis about my nikah they said it has ended and they did not inform me that the wife has to observe iddah.
Now 19 months have passed since the time I was not told that even when the marriage ends due to kufr the wife has to observe iddah and if the husband says the words of divorce in the iddah of the wife, it will occur. I got scared because I might have uttered it, so I asked many darul ifta’s whome all of which stated that divorce occurs in the iddah of kufr as well but then some muftis verbally told me it is a matter of disagreement among the A’imma E arba that when the woman comes out of nikah during her iddah if divorce occurs or not. So since I want to get back to her, those muftis said you can marry her by following other opinions which does not occur just in case you might have said it and they also said no darul ifta would give the written permission for very obvious reasons.
I swear upon Allah I am telling the truth.
After that, I came to know that in imam Shafi’s madhab, the nikah automatically renews after kufr if the husband becomes Muslim, so I thought I was doing ruju by following this opinion of imam Shafi. I knew it would cause me trouble but in stupidity I made this mistake Mufti saheb. Within a few seconds I realised that no this can’t happen and then I did taubah because if ruju will take place, talaqs said by me during these 19 months will take place, I did taubah.
Can I marry her mufti sahab?
Some other wasawis also bothered me in the last 2 months like “I am shafai and I am giving divorce “
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
No.
With your words of kufr and the completion of your former wife’s ‘iddah, your marriage has been annulled and divorce has taken place. This is also in accordance to the Mazhab of Imam Shafi’i.(1) As for the ‘iddah, it applied from the moment you said the words of kufr, regardless of whether the rules of ‘iddah had actually been observed or not.(2)
It is clear to me through your message that your actions have been very deliberate and calculated regarding this incident. You should make sincere repentance to Allah (swt) for your kufr, as well as your attempt at using the religion to cause emotional harm to your former wife. It would be wise to note that it is an opinion of the scholars that kufr renders all previous rewards null and void, even if you return to the fold of Islam.(3) It would also do you well to take into regard that in Islam it is impermissible to marry a woman if you think you will cause her harm or injustice.(4)
It was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas that the Prophet (saw) said: “The best of you is the one who is best to his wife, and I am the best of you to my wives.” (5)
As for actions that need to be taken: first, you need to have declared your shahadah again when reverting back from apostasy (kufr).(6) Second, if you have yet to give your former wife her wedding dowry, you would still owe her the full dowry if you had consummated the marriage despite your kufr.(7)
On a final note, it would be best to seek professional help from a qualified scholar or Muslim counsellor regarding your mindset and usage of the religion.
Only Allah knows best.
Written by Alimah Maryam Badshah
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham
References:
(1)
وَالْمُرَادُ بِالطَّلَاقِ فُرْقَةٌ جَاءَتْ مِنْ قِبَلِ الزَّوْجِ وَلَمْ يُشَارِكْهُ صَاحِبُ الْمَهْرِ فِي سَبَبِهَا طَلَاقًا كَانَتْ أَوْ فَسْخًا:… وَالرِّدَّةِ، وَإِبَائِهِ الْإِسْلَامَ…
Raddul Muhtār (Vol.3, pg.110, Dār Al-Fiqr)
وَإِنْ أُخْبِرَتْ الْمَرْأَةُ أَنَّ زَوْجَهَا قَدْ ارْتَدَّ لَهَا أَنْ تَتَزَوَّجَ بِآخَرَ بَعْدَ انْقِضَاءِ الْعِدَّةِ
Al-Fatāwa al-Hindiyyah (Vol.1, pg.340, Dār Al-Fiqr)
… أو ارتدَّ الزوجان المُسلمانِ أو أحدهُما، فإنْ كانَ قبلَ الدخولِ تعجَّلتِ الفُرقةُ، وإن كانَ بعدهُ توقَّفتْ على انقضاءِ العِدّةِ، فإنْ اجتمعا على الإسلامِ قَبْلَ انقضائها دامَ النكاحُ، وإلا حُكِمَ بالفُرْقةِ منْ حينِ تبديلِ الدِّينِ،
‘Umdat al-Sālik (pg.206, Al-Shu’ūn Ad-Deeniyyah), Reliance of the Traveller m7.4 (pg.532, Amana Publications)
(2)
(وَمَبْدَأُ الْعِدَّةِ بَعْدَ الطَّلَاقِ وَ) بَعْدَ (الْمَوْتِ) عَلَى الْفَوْرِ (وَتَنْقَضِي الْعِدَّةُ وَإِنْ جَهِلَتْ) الْمَرْأَةُ (بِهِمَا) أَيْ بِالطَّلَاقِ وَالْمَوْتِ لِأَنَّهَا أَجَلٌ فَلَا يُشْتَرَطُ الْعِلْمُ بِمُضِيِّهِ سَوَاءٌ اعْتَرَفَ بِالطَّلَاقِ، أَوْ أَنْكَرَ.
Raddul Muhtār (Vol.3, pg.520, Dār Al-Fiqr)
(3)
وَهَذَا ظَاهِرٌ عَلَى مَذْهَبِ الشَّافِعِيِّ مِنْ أَنَّ الْمُرْتَدَّ لَا يُحْبَطُ عَمَلُهُ مَا لَمْ يَمُتْ عَلَى الرِّدَّةِ: أَمَّا عِنْدَنَا فَبِمُجَرَّدِ الرِّدَّةِ يُحْبَطُ الْعَمَلُ
Raddul Muhtār (Vol.1, pg.13, Dār Al-Fiqr); similarly: Raddul Muhtār (Vol.2, pg.76, Dār Al-Fiqr)
(4)
شَرْطًا آخَرَ فِيهِمَا وَهُوَ عَدَمُ خَوْفِ الْجَوْرِ أَيْ الظُّلْمِ قَالَ: فَإِنْ تَعَارَضَ خَوْفُ الْوُقُوعِ فِي الزِّنَا لَوْ لَمْ يَتَزَوَّجْ وَخَوْفُ الْجَوْرِ لَوْ تَزَوَّجَ قَدَّمَ الثَّانِيَ فَلَا افْتِرَاضَ، بَلْ يُكْرَهُ أَفَادَهُ الْكَمَالُ فِي الْفَتْحِ وَلَعَلَّهُ؛ لِأَنَّ الْجَوْرَ مَعْصِيَةٌ مُتَعَلِّقَةٌ بِالْعِبَادِ، وَالْمَنْعُ مِنْ الزِّنَا مِنْ حُقُوقِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى وَحَقُّ الْعَبْدِ مُقَدَّمٌ عِنْدَ التَّعَارُضِ لِاحْتِيَاجِهِ وَغِنَى الْمَوْلَى تَعَالَى.
Raddul Muhtar (Vol.3, pg.6, Dār Al-Fiqr)
(5)
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بِشْرٍ، بَكْرُ بْنُ خَلَفٍ وَمُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى قَالاَ حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو عَاصِمٍ، عَنْ جَعْفَرِ بْنِ يَحْيَى بْنِ ثَوْبَانَ، عَنْ عَمِّهِ، عُمَارَةَ بْنِ ثَوْبَانَ عَنْ عَطَاءٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ قَالَ “ خَيْرُكُمْ خَيْرُكُمْ لأَهْلِهِ وَأَنَا خَيْرُكُمْ لأَهْلِي
Sunan Ibn Majah 1977 (Vol. 3, pg.185, Kitab Bhavan)
(6)
وَإِسْلَامُهُ أَنْ يَأْتِيَ بِكَلِمَةِ الشَّهَادَةِ، وَيَتَبَرَّأَ عَنْ الْأَدْيَانِ كُلِّهَا سِوَى الْإِسْلَامِ،
Al-Fatāwa al-Hindiyyah (Vol.2, pg.253, Dār Al-Fiqr); similarly: ‘Umdat al-Sālik (pg.233, Al-Shu’ūn Ad-Deeniyyah)
(7)
ارْتَدَّ أَحَدُ الزَّوْجَيْنِ عَنْ الْإِسْلَامِ وَقَعَتْ الْفُرْقَةُ بِغَيْرِ طَلَاقٍ فِي الْحَالِ قَبْلَ الدُّخُولِ وَبَعْدَهُ ثُمَّ إنْ كَانَ الزَّوْجُ هُوَ الْمُرْتَدُّ فَلَهَا كُلُّ الْمَهْرِ إنْ دَخَلَ بِهَا وَنِصْفُهُ إنْ لَمْ يَدْخُلْ بِهَا
Al-Fatāwa al-Hindiyyah (Vol.1, pg.339, Dār Al-Fiqr); similarly: Raddul Muhtār (Vol.3, pg.71, Dār Al-Fiqr) & ‘Umdat al-Sālik (pg.207, Al-Shu’ūn Ad-Deeniyyah)
