The Book of Divorce

Ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The (pronouncement) of three divorces during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and that of Abu Bakr and two years of the caliphate of ‘Umar (was treated) as one. Then ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb said: "Indeed, people hasten to a matter in which they used to act with deliberation. So if we would count them as three divorces," and he did that.

Ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "If [a man] forbids his wife, this is nothing." He further quoted: {There is in the Messenger of Allah a good example to you.} [Sūrat al-Ahzāb: 21]

‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) liked sweets and honey, and whenever he finished the ‘Asr prayer, he would visit his wives and stay closely with them, one after another. He once visited Hafsah and remained with her for longer than usual. I inquired about it, and it was said to me: ‘A woman from her tribe gifted her a leather vessel containing honey, and she gave some of it to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) to drink.’ I said: "By Allah, we will play a trick on him." So I mentioned the story to Sawdah and said to her: "When he visits you, he will come near you, whereupon you should say to him: 'O Messenger of Allah, have you eaten Maghafīr (bad-smelling gum)?' He will say: 'No.' Then say to him: 'What about this smell then?' It was very hard on the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) that a bad smell would emit from him. He will say: 'Hafsah has given me a drink of honey.' Then say to him: 'Its bees must have sucked from ‘Urfut (a foul-smelling plant).' I too will tell him the same. And you, O Safiyyah, also say the same.’ When the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) visited Sawdah, the following happened, as related by Sawdah, who said: 'By the One other than Whom there is no god, I was about to tell him what you had told me while he was still at the door, out of fear from you.’ But when the Messenger (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) came near her, she said to him: ‘O Messenger of Allah, have you eaten Maghāfīr?’ He replied: ‘No.’ ‘I said: 'What about this smell then?' He said: 'Hafsah has given me a drink of honey.' I said: 'Its bees must have sucked ‘Urfut.'’ When he visited me, I told him the same, and when he visited Safiyyah, she too said the same. When he visited Hafsah again, she said to him: ‘O Messenger of Allah, shall I give you a drink of it (the honey)?’ He said: ‘I have no desire for it.’ Sawdah said: ‘Glory be to Allah! By Allah, we have deprived him of it.’ I said to her: ‘Keep quiet!’”

Fātimah bint Qays (may Allah be pleased with her) reported that Abu ‘Amr ibn Hafs divorced her irrevocably, while he was not present (and in another narration: “divorced her thrice”). He sent some barley to her with his representative and she was displeased with it. So he said: “By Allah, you are not entitled to receive anything from me.” She came to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and mentioned that to him. He said: “No financial maintenance is due to you upon him. (In another narration: 'or accommodation’)” Then the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) ordered her to observe her ‘Iddah (post-divorce waiting period) in the house of Umm Sharīk; then he said: “This is a woman whom my Companions frequently visit, so observe your ‘Iddah at the house of Ibn Umm Maktūm. He is a blind man and you can disrobe in his house. Then when you complete your ‘Iddah, inform me.” She said: “When I completed my ‘Iddah, I mentioned to him that both Mu‘āwiyah ibn Abu Sufyān and Abu Jahm proposed to me. Thereupon, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘As for Abu Jahm, he never takes his stick off his shoulder, and as for Mu‘āwiyah, he is destitute and penniless. Marry Usāmah ibn Zayd,’” whom she disliked. Then he said: “Marry Usāmah ibn Zayd.” Fātimah said: “So I married him and Allah placed a lot of good in him, and I was pleased with him.”

Fātimah bint Qays reported: I said: "O Messenger of Allah, my husband has divorced me three times and I am afraid that my house will be broken into." So, he (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) told me to move.

Jābir ibn ‘Abdullāh (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: My maternal aunt was divorced, and she wanted to collect the harvest from her date-palm trees. A man rebuked her for going out to the trees. So she went to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) who said: "No, go and collect the harvest from your trees, for perhaps you will give (some of it in) charity or do a good deed with it."

Subay‘ah al-Aslamiyyah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported that she was married to Sa‘d ibn Khawlah, who belonged to the tribe of ‘Āmir ibn Lu’ay. He was one of the Companions who participated in the battle of Badr. He died during the Farewell Hajj while Subay‘ah was pregnant. Shortly after his death, she delivered her child. When her post-natal bleeding stopped, she beautified herself for prospective suitors. Abu As-Sanābil ibn Ba‘kak (a man from the tribe of Banu ‘Abd Ad-Dār) entered upon her and said: "Why are you thus adorned? Perhaps you wish to remarry? By Allah, you cannot remarry unless four months and ten days (of ‘Iddah) have passed." Subay‘ah said: "When he said that, I put on my clothes in the evening and I went to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). I asked him about that, and he gave me a Fatwa that remarrying had became lawful to me when I delivered my child, and he ordered me to marry if I so wished." Ibn Shihāb said: "I do not find anything wrong with her marrying right after she gives birth, even if she is still bleeding (post-partum) except that her new husband should not approach her until she attains purity (when the bleeding stops).

Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: A woman came to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Messenger of Allah, my daughter’s husband died, and she complains about her eye. Can we apply Kohl thereto?" The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said 'No' twice or thrice. Then he said: "It is only four months and ten days. In the pre-Islamic era, you women would throw away the dung after a year had passed." Zaynab said: “When a woman’s husband died, she would go into a small hut, wear her worst clothes and would not touch any kind of perfume until a whole year would pass. Then an animal – a donkey, bird, or sheep – would be brought to her and she would rub her skin with it. It was seldom that she would rub her skin with any animal except that it died! Then she would come out and be given a piece of dung, which she would throw away. Then, she would return to using perfume or anything else she liked.”

A relative of Umm Habībah died, so she asked for a yellow perfume and wiped it over her arms and said: "I do this only because I heard the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) say: It is not lawful for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to mourn for a deceased more than three [days], but for her husband, four months and ten days.'"

’Umm ‘Atiyyah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "A woman should not mourn for any dead person more than three days except her husband, for whom she should mourn four months and ten days. She should not wear dyed clothes (while in mourning) except ‘Asb (an unattractive Yemeni garment), nor should she apply kohl or touch perfume, except when she becomes purified (from her menses), as she may then apply a little Qust or Azhfār (types of incense)."