Fatwa ID: 02773
Answered by: Maulana Tahsin Alam
Question:
Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah
I have a question and I need detailed answers with the reference of the Quran and Hadeeth!
What does Islam say about those wives who ask for Talaq without any valid reasons?
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيْم
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
Narrated Thawbān that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Any woman who asks her husband for ṭalāq (divorce), without any excusable reason, the scent of paradise is made prohibited for her.”[1]
This is understood in tandem with the following ḥadīth, narrated Ibn ʿAbbās that the wife of Thābit Ibn Qays approached the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said, “Oh Messenger of Allāh! Thābit Ibn Qays, I do not complain about his personality nor his dīn (religiosity), but I do not like to be ungrateful after [accepting] īmān (faith) (i.e. she did not find any attraction to him and therefore was afraid that she might not be able to provide him his rights as a husband).” The Prophet (peace be upon him) then said, “Will you return his garden back to him? (I.e. return the dowry he gave).” She replied in the affirmative. The Prophet (peace be upon him) then said [to Thābit], “Accept the [return of] the garden and divorce her.”[2]
If the wife fears that she will not be able to provide her husband’s rights that is valid ground for divorce within Islām.
Only Allah Ta’ala knows best
Written by Maulana Tahsin Alam
Checked and approved by Ustadha Sabrina
Darul Ifta Birmingham
[1] Abū Dāwud (2226).
[2] Bukhārī (4867).