Chapter on Divorce

Divorce (talaq) is the dissolution of the marriage contract, described by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as 'the most hated of all permitted things to Allah.' The Maliki school treats divorce with thoroughness and nuance, recognizing various forms of marital dissolution and the distinct legal consequences of each.

The standard talaq is the husband's unilateral declaration of divorce. The Maliki school recognizes three types based on their legal effect: raj'i (revocable) divorce, ba'in (irrevocable) divorce, and mughallazah (magnified irrevocable) divorce. A raj'i divorce — the first or second pronunciation — allows the husband to take his wife back (ruju') during the waiting period (iddah) without a new contract. If the iddah expires without ruju', it becomes a ba'in divorce, and a new contract with a new mahr is required for them to remarry. After three pronouncements, the divorce becomes mughallazah — the couple cannot remarry unless the wife has been genuinely married to another man, consummated that marriage, and been divorced from him by her own accord (not a sham arrangement).

The Maliki school holds that uttering three divorces in a single session counts as three — this is one of the well-known Maliki positions. The couple may not reunite without the intervention of a genuine intervening marriage (halalah). The Maliki school holds this even when the three were pronounced in a single sitting, distinguishing itself from some other scholars who count three-in-one as only one.

Khul' is a form of divorce initiated by the wife, in which she returns the mahr (or agrees to a compensation) in exchange for the husband's agreement to divorce her. The Maliki school treats khul' as a ba'in divorce, and the husband may not take her back without her consent and a new contract. Khul' is permissible when the wife has valid reasons for seeking separation, such as a fundamental dislike of the husband that prevents her from fulfilling his rights.

Ila' is the husband's oath to abstain from sexual relations with his wife for a specified period, typically four months or more. After four months, the Maliki school requires the husband to either return to conjugal relations or give a talaq. The court may compel him if he refuses both.

Zihar is the prohibited pre-Islamic practice of comparing one's wife to a prohibited relative's back: 'You are to me like my mother's back.' The Maliki school treats zihar as a serious wrong, and the husband is prohibited from resuming marital relations until he performs the kaffarah: freeing a slave, or fasting sixty consecutive days, or feeding sixty poor persons.

Li'an is the legal procedure for a husband's accusation of adultery against his wife when he has no witnesses. Both the husband and wife swear oaths invoking Allah's curse on the liar. After li'an, the couple is permanently separated and may never reunite, and the lineage of any child born in the relevant period is disestablished from the husband.