Religion

Can Muslim women get a divorce free of humiliation?
Article Author :Dima al-Azem
Many Muslim countries are endorsing gradual yet distinguished measures towards progress in various areas such as economy, technology, education, health, etc. However, one finds few remarkable attempts to resolve intricate legal practices that continue to prevent Muslim women and children from basic rights. Islam introduced its sacred book ‘The Quran’ to be applied to all nations at all times while embracing a notable level of lenity and mercy which have often been dismissed to permit profoundly prejudiced laws and practices furthering women’s inferiority. Our present times still witness frequent incidents of agonized Muslim women in courts seeking divorce and child custody despite the unambiguous teachings of a tolerant faith that established a fair treatment of wives and mothers. This article will offer progressive outlooks responsive to women’s needs in an effort to revive the benevolent spirit of Islam. Let us first acknowledge that Quran and Hadith (Prophet’s sayings) have only been read through a masculine lens which discounted women’s needs in many instances. Present-day family laws in Muslim countries have been devised based on those inadequate ‘male-dominated’ interpretations, dating back to the l0th and l2th centuries, long after the Prophet’s death. Today’s family courts are crowded with exhausted Muslim women pleading for help in getting a divorce, and claiming child custody and/or alimony. It is no surprise to anyone that countless Muslim women waste years in pursuit of their basic right to end a marital relationship while their male counterparts may terminate it with the mere utterance of an undisputed word “I divorce you.” Quranic verses and Hadiths that tackled divorce and child custody issues deserve a contemporary contemplation in an effort to propose equitable perspectives that could enhance the lives of women and children in Muslim societies. I will reflect on the unorthodox insights by a number of researchers and scholars to challenge the current immature practices in quest for a just explanation of divorce and child custody laws in Islam. Allow me first to give a concise depiction of the existing procedures. Current divorce laws vary among the major Islamic schools. Women’s rights to divorce differ significantly from nation to nation, and from one time period to another. According to all schools, men have an absolute and unilateral right to divorce, unless otherwise specified in the marriage contract. Women can only seek divorce through court proceedings by convincing the male-dominated judiciary of their claim (court decisions can be appealed by husbands inclined to prolong the process for provocative reasons). The grounds for a woman’s entitlement to divorce are more or less limited to the cases where the husband is proved to be impotent, to have a contagious disease, or a serious defect, or to be abusing her with life-threatening conduct. Other dissonances when claimed by the wife may not be persuasive reasons for separation. A wife can ask for divorce from her side, but that is generally only possible if she returns her dowry “mahr” and any supplementary property specified in the marriage contract to her husband. But when the husband demands a repudiation, the divorced wife keeps her dowry. It is worthy to note here that even in the case of a woman-requested divorce, the husband’s consent remains necessary, otherwise the divorce settlement can take years leaving the woman in legal limbo, oftentimes with no financial support, and unable to remarry until the case is decided. Following divorce, the wife is given child custody (unless she re-marries) until the child reaches a certain age, at which point the matter will be settled by the couple or by the courts. In many instances divorce is revocable until the wife completes her “Iddah” - a waiting period a wife must observe after divorce where she is prohibited from marrying another man to determine whether she is pregnant and avoid doubts of paternity. Interestingly, during this period the husband may resume marriage without the wife’s acknowledgement or consent!