Q1. I came across your website and found your writings very enlightening. I
am interested in learning about all major religions of the world (especially
because I study and teach religious iconography) and find your website quite
helpful. I would be grateful if you would reply to my confusion about the rights
of women in Islam after divorce.
Does Islam provide for maintenance / alimony beyond three
months for a divorced woman by her ex-husband? My understanding is that if it
doesn't, then most probably it's because women in Islam are supposed to be
maintained by their legal guardian. After divorce, the ex-husband is no longer
the woman's legal guardian, hence he is not obliged to give her maintenance /
alimony after three months, as the divorced woman is supposed to return to her
family and be maintained by her father / brother or whoever is her legal
guardian. Of course, the 7th century Arabian society didn't foresee the
situation of today where many women live by themselves and don't have a legal
guardian. However, I may be completely wrong about this and will be grateful if
you can clear up my ignorance.
I came across this
blog on the Internet where I saw this heated debate going on about this subject
regarding why the divorced woman in
A1. Perhaps if you read an article on "family" that I wrote in
the Blackwell Companion to the Qur'an, you will see that our opinion on this
issue is that the Qur'an often does NOT give legislation that is considered to
be permanent and instead deals with material that was at the time of the
Prophet, emending the conditions of that time. Does Islam provide alimony
beyond three months? Certainly, depending on the
circumstances and situation. If Muslims choose to live in a society
where there are laws that govern divorce rules, then the Muslim automatically
becomes subject to such law. The idea of a man being a woman's guardian,
insofar as that by virtue of his gender he is somehow superior, is antiquated
and un-Islamic.
The legislation of the Qur'an was based in an androcentric society and often has to be seen as simply
making things better for that time. The Muslim thinkers, with the passing of
time and supposed increase in their awareness of better ethics, have to address
new issues with legislation mutatis
mutandis based on the philosophy of the Qur'an, which means the giving of
rights to those who are oppressed. After reading your short letter, I feel that
you are far more advanced in your thinking and perception of the Qur'anic perspective than most of the "alims"
trained in the Islamic institutions. Sadly, the issue of thought and reflection
in the Muslim world of traditional scholarship is lacking.
Q2. Thanks for your very enlightening reply. I agree with you completely
and have been talking to my Muslim friends exactly along these lines, but they
think I am against Islam and that's why I talk like this. I am from
You mentioned your article in the Blackwell Companion to Qur”an, but I feel you should also include an article on
post-divorce alimony on your website so that the common people can read it.
It's magnanimous of you to think that I am advanced in my understanding of
Islam, but I am not a Muslim and hence, I can't write about it because the
Muslim population will not take me seriously and may even turn against me, but
people may listen to you.
There is also the question of mahr - the Encyclopaedia
of Islam (from E. J. Brill,
What's your opinion about this – should the mahr be taken at
the time of marriage since it is essentially purchase money and can its claim
be postponed until divorce (if it ever happens)? Of course in
Please have a look at chapter 2, verse 241 in the Qur”an. The English translation says the divorced woman
should get maintenance from her husband according to usage. What's the meaning
of "according to usage?" In my opinion, if we can interpret it as
"according to prevailing norms", then in
A2. Your idea about the mahr is a good one. There is a law in Islam about
obligations and impositions: basically that an exhortation is obligatory unless
something indicates otherwise. We feel that no religion can ignore the role of
custom and time. In areas where the wife is traditionally a homemaker, we feel
that the mahr
is applicable, and that it should be paid up front, or such provisions made
that it will be paid even if deferred. The marriage contract is one wherein
well-meaning parties assume permanency; to cater for what happens in divorce is
to reduce the woman to a sexual vessel only. In modern society, where both
spouses are often equal breadwinners, and the woman is no longer viewed as
someone's property, or wherein her body parts or sexual services are viewed as
something to be bargained over in a marriage, we feel that the mahr is purely
symbolic, and that it may be more appropriate to make a mutual exchange of
property.
In terms of the maintenance, we feel that the Qur'an, as it
presents the case, and the normative interpretations thus far, are based on
accepting what was present in a tribal, patriarchal society as a universal
norm. This leads to injustice. As humankind has evolved from tribal to modern
societies, the duties of the parents, or the expectation that a female must
return to her parental home after divorce, has dwindled. We feel that each
country has a set of legal norms, dictated by the interpretation of its
scholars in law, ethics, human rights, etc., and that these laws are made for
the betterment of society as a whole. With this in mind, we feel that the
alimony payments should be the domain of the legal institutions of the country in
which Muslims reside. This is what is called understanding and satisfying the
goals of the shari’ah
(fiqh al maqasid),
in our humble opinion.
Posted January 24,
2010