Marriage in terms of Islamic law is an oath. Oaths are extremely important in Islamic law and in Islamic tradition in general. Divorce serves as a way to nullify or satisfy this oath and terminate the marriage. Because marriage is an oath and oaths are so important to Islamic culture there are strict rules about how to get out of one. Also built into the system are mandatory waiting times called iddiah which help to prevent divorces of passion and also help to protect the inheritance rights of unborn babies.
The minor divorce, or ila' is an oath a man takes to not have sex with his wife for four months. An ila' is implied but not mentioned in Surah II verse 226. This practice of minor divorce may be in reference to some pre-Islamic tradition that allowed men to easily partially divorce their wives so that their wives could not remarry but they did not enjoy full status in their own house hold. Also according to Hanbal there are instances where these types of oaths are still acceptable under Islamic law. However Hanbal argues that if a man vows to not have sex with a woman while in their house, that does not count as an 'ila because they could have sex in some other location.
The 'ila seems to be slanted against the female. It services as a tool men can use against their wives to scare them into being more obedient. A husband may use this as a threat against his wife. This may make a woman live in constant fear that she is not performing well enough and may cause psychological stress on her. Hanbal says that after the 'ila is complete the man must either have sex with his wife or divorce her. If the man was using this as a psychological tool against his wife he may decide to singly divorce her, and then doubly, and then only take her back at the last moment. And then start the whole process over again. This is an extreme example of what could happen.
Other than the minor divorce there are two types of divorce. One initiated by the man and one initiated by the woman. Divorces initiated by the man are done as follows: the man must say aloud that he divorces the woman three times. After he does so three times a waiting period begins. The waiting period either last three menstrual cycles of the woman or three lunar months if the woman does not menstruate. This is explained in Surah II verse 229.
Men initiated divorces have several implications on the status of Muslim women. For one thing they get to keep their dowry. So this gives the woman some money to support herself. The woman may live off of this dowry until she finds another husband or some other way to support herself. Also in Islam a divorced woman does not get thrown to the bottom of the society. Ibn Hanbal and Maulana Ashraf 'Ali Thanawi both speak about how it is lawful and acceptable for divorced women to remarry. Thanawi actually goes on a great deal about this issue because he was trying to combat what he considered to be unislamic traditions. All of the prophet Muhammad's wives, except Aishah, had previous husbands. If the prophet did it, then it must be good, so the argument goes.
Because the man must say that he divorces the woman three times that also protects people from getting divorced hastily because of passion. The waiting period also gives the couple time to reconcile their differences before the divorce goes into effect, it is said that if a man and a woman reconcile before the waiting period is up then there is no shame or punish to be brought upon them. The waiting period also gives time for the woman to figure out of if she is pregnant or not. This allows for her to assure the status and inheritance of her children by her husband. It should be noted that the couple can not get back together if the man declares the divorce three times. There are varying opinions on what constitutes as a triple divorce, such if a man says that he divorces a woman triply should it count as a single divorce or a triple divorce. Hanbal argues that it should count as a triple divorce if the man's intentions were for it to count as a triple divorce, and it should count as a single divorce if the man intended for it to count as a single divorce.
The 'iddah also has several other implifications for women. It prevents a man from marrying one of his former wives sisters until after his former wife's 'iddah is over. This is because until the 'iddah is over they are still considered family and his former wife's sister is forbidden to him. Also if a man has four wives and he divorces one of them, he must wait for her 'iddah to be done with before he takes another wife. This is because he may reconcile with his her or she may be pregnant and then he'd have five wives, which is forbidden. The 'iddah also gives all parties involved in a divorce the chance to calm down and reflect on why they are getting divorced. It is considered best for the couple to get reconcile than it is for them to divorce.
If however a couple does not reconcile in time and their divorce becomes final. The woman must remarry, get another divorce, wait another 'iddah before returning to her husband. The implications of this are that there may be times when a woman will engage in a marriage of convenience to somebody for only one day and then divorce him to start her 'iddah.
The woman initiated divorce is implied in Surah II verse 229. This idea has several implications on the status of women. There are disagreements in Islamic law over a women initiated divorces. If the couple reconciles, should the woman get her dowry back? If they do decide to get back together but the woman does not get her dowry and then the man decides to divorce her, how is the woman suppose to support herself if she does not have any family?
Women initiated divorces do allow women to leave abusive relationships, or even one that she simply does not like. There are no stipulations on why one performs divorce. This has several implications for women. They never know if there husband will decide to divorce them. And if their husbands do decide to divorce them there is nothing they can do about it if there husband is stubborn. But as mentioned before, on the positive side they do get to keep their dowry, unless they decide to give it as a free gift to their husband. This also gives women an elevated amount of freedom in a marriage because they are free to threaten to leave or actually leave their husbands for any reason. This can be a powerful factor in keeping marriages fair and balanced, provided the female has somewhere to go and some way of supporting herself if she decides to ransom herself.
Another type of Islamic divorce that Shiite Muslims have that Sunnis do not is the mut'a marriage. That is a temporary marriage done for pleasure. In this case the dowry and the marriage are akin to prostitution and prostitution fees. Shiite Muslims justify these types of marriages by citing Surah 4 verse 24.
Islamic divorce laws have for the most part been an uplifting factor in the lives of married women, because of the built in safe guards and that women get their dowry back if their husband decides to divorce them. The triple nature of divorce and mandatory waiting period until a divorce is official prevents people from getting divorced too quickly.
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