What Allah has joined together
By Noralyn Mustafa
Inquirer News Service

WHAT Allah has joined together in holy matrimony, the law may put asunder. This law has been laid down in the Holy Qur'an itself, leaving little for men to make compromises and considerations for reasons of time and circumstance, politics and commerce.

This, in essence, is divorce under Muslim law.

Divorce was probably the liveliest topic during the regional workshop on "Islamic Law and Justice for Muslim Women" held in Kuala Lumpur in June 2001. Organized by the worldwide Sisters in Islam, participants (from several countries including the United States and Iran and made up mostly of Muslim women lawyers and educators) discussed vital issues on gender reform and reproductive rights under Islamic law and in the light of cultural traditions in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Pilipina Legal Resources Center executive director Isabelita Solamo-Antonio who led our four-member delegation, together with lawyer Norma A. Maruhom who is also a professor with the faculty of Mindanao State University in Marawi, presented the paper on divorce under Muslim Family Law in the Philippines.

Divorce, as defined by the codified Shari'ah law, is "the formal dissolution of the marriage bond to be granted only after the exhaustion of all possible means of reconciliation between the spouses."

This definition is in accord with the spirit of the Qur'anic injunctions and Prophetic traditions pertaining to divorce. And in conformity with the Qur'anic requirement on arbitration, the (Shari'ah) Code created the Agama Arbitration Council, the task of which is to arbitrate and, if possible, to bring about conciliation between the contending parties. The Code states that divorce may be effected by repudiation of the wife by the husband (talaq); vow of continence by the husband (ila); injurious assimilation of the wife by the husband (zihar); acts of imprecation (li'an); redemption by the wife (khul); exercise by the wife of the delegated right to repudiate (tafwid); or judicial decree (faskh).

To limit the number of times a divorce by talaq is permitted, the Holy Qur'an emphasizes that: "A divorce is only permissible twice; after that, the parties should either hold together on equitable terms, or separate with kindness (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:229).

In the next verse it is said: "And if the husband divorces his wife (irrevocably), he cannot, after that, remarry her until after she has married another husband and he has divorced her. In that case, there is no blame on either of them if they reunite, provided they feel that they can keep the limits ordained by Allah..."

Where a husband makes a vow to abstain from any carnal relation (ila) with his wife and keeps such vow for a period of not less than four months, she may be granted a decree of divorce by the court after due notice and hearing (Art. 47, CMPL). This is based on the Qur'anic verse to the effect: "For those who take an oath for abstention from their wives, a waiting for four months is ordained; ...(B)ut if their intention is firm for divorce, Allah heareth and knoweth all things (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:227).

"Where a husband accuses his wife in court of adultery, a decree or perpetual divorce may be granted by the court after due hearing and after the parties shall have performed the prescribed acts of imprecation (li'an)" based on the following verses of Surah Al-Nur:

"And for those who launch a charge against their spouses, and have (in support) no evidence but their own -- their solitary evidence (can be received) if they bear witness four times (with an oath) by Allah that they are solemnly telling the truth; and the fifth oath (should be) that they solemnly invoke the curse of Allah on themselves if they tell a lie (24:6-7)."

Immediately following is the verse that states: "But it would avert the punishment from the wife if she bears witnesses four times (with an oath) by Allah, that (her husband) is telling a lie; and the fifth (oath) should be that she solemnly invokes the wrath of Allah on herself if (her accuser) is telling the truth (Al-Nur, 24:8-9)."

Another verse of the Holy Qur'an can also be made the basis of the above article. This is Surah Al-Nisa which says: "If a wife fears cruelty or desertion on her husband's part, there is no blame on them if they arrange an amicable settlement between themselves, and such settlement is best..."

But divorce by faskh is probably the kind that most Filipino women can relate to, because it is based on very familiar grounds: neglect or failure of the husband to provide support for the family for at least six consecutive months; conviction of the husband by final judgment sentencing him to imprisonment for at least one year; failure of the husband to perform for six months without cause his marital obligations in accordance with the Code; impotency of the husband; insanity or affliction of the husband with an incurable disease which would make the continuance of the marriage injurious to the family; unusual cruelty of the husband as defined under the Code.

In conclusion, Solano-Antonio and Maruhom in their paper said that the Code makes it clear to Muslim women in the Philippines that they too, have the right to divorce their spouses, although as they themselves admit, men are more privileged in the exercise of this right.

Now, through all these legalities and scriptural injunctions, the incurable romantic would ask: what's love got to do with it? Obviously, nothing. And where love has gone, probably the healthiest thing to do would be to save what's left of yourself in the most civilized manner and really move on.

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