Divorce is Twice

Medihah Hussain (Group Ruqayyah)
It is one of the many blessings of Allah that divorce is twice. During the Arab society men would divorce their women over 100’s of times and take them back leaving no future for those women. Due to this Allah sent the command that divorce is twice. After this a man must decide to either remain with that woman or leave her. At the time of marriage a man gives a dowry to the woman which is hers. If they divorce it is unlawful that a man demands this back as it is rightfully her possession. The only case where he may take it back from her is if she asks for the divorce herself and then she would ransom herself by giving back her dowry. It really made me realize how much Allah (swt) has taken care of all the rights of women because they are usually overlooked.

Divorcee

Student Of Al Huda
And when you divorce women and they have [nearly] fulfilled their term, either retain them according to acceptable terms or release them according to acceptable terms, and do not keep them, intending harm, to transgress [against them]. And whoever does that has certainly wronged himself. And do not take the verses of Allāh in jest. And remember the favor of Allāh upon you and what has been revealed to you of the Book and wisdom by which He instructs you. And fear Allāh and know that Allāh is Knowing of all things. [Al Baqarah:231]
‘…if anyone does that, he wrongs his own soul…’ We learn in this verse that sins hurt the person that commits them most. That is, when we hurt other people, we are first and foremost hurting our own souls. We will be held accountable for every sin that we commit. With that in mind, every time we think of doing something wrong or something mean to someone, we should think of this verse. Sure, we might hurt someone else and feel better, but in the end, we’re only hurting ourself. And who would intentionally hurt themself? So in order to take care of ourself best and to save ourself, we need to be careful and not sin!

Don’t Stop Her

Saba Naz (Group Fatima)
One the third divorce is pronounced then the man and woman are no longer halal for each other. The only way that they could get back together is if she was to marry another man and then divorce him. However, this can not be done with the intention of getting back with the first husband. Also if she remarries and her husband dies then she may go back to the first husband. There is a condition they must believe that they can remain within the limits that Allah has set or else it is best that they do not remarry.
When revocable divorce has been pronounced then a man must make a choice to whether he wants to keep her or let her go. Allah has made it unlawful that you remain married to her in order to make her life hard and to hurt her as this is not morally correct, this person has definitely wronged himself.

Surah Al Baqarah V.221-228

Want Fire?

Student of Al Huda
Be honest with yourself. If a slave woman was available to marry or a polytheist woman who would you choose? It is sad to say that many Muslims of today may opt for the latter one. Although we do not have the large slave culture that was prevalent in the Arab society we still do look down upon those who are working in others houses to earn a living. It is upsetting to see that the command of Allah is not being followed due to immense ignorance.
 Allah tells us that it is better that a believer marries a slave that is believing rather than marrying a polytheist woman even though she pleases you. What this is teaching us that before anything comes deen, we must surpress our desires for the sake of the deen of Allah (swt).
Those invite [you] to the Fire, but Allāh invites to Paradise and to forgiveness, by His permission. And He makes clear His verses to the people that perhaps they may remember. [Al Baqarah: 221]
It is clearly stated in this verse that marrying a polytheist woman is like taking up an offer to go to the hellfire.

Wisdom and Menses

Medihah Hussain (Group Ruqayyah)
The companions asked about menses from the prophet (saw). The answer that Allah gave came in the Qur’an signifying that it is an important question:
And they ask you about menstruation. Say, “It is harm, so keep away from wives during menstruation. And do not approach them until they are pure. And when they have purified themselves, then come to them from where Allāh has ordained for you. Indeed, Allāh loves those who are constantly repentant and loves those who purify themselves.” [Al Baqarah:222]
From here we can observe that Allah (swt) understands what women go through when they are menstruating. He describes it as being a time of hurt for them or an ailment. Many women can understand that during this time they may feel irritated, emotional and often wanting to be left untouched and slightly isolated. These are all feelings that come with menstruation and it is the beauty of Allah and a blessing that He has not allowed for sexual contact between husband and wife during this time.

Unintentional Oaths

Fatima M (Al Huda Student)
Allāh does not impose blame upon you for what is unintentional in your oaths, but He imposes blame upon you for what your hearts have earned. And Allāh is Forgiving and Forbearing. [Al Baqarah: 225]
  Two very important things are mentiond in this verse, intentions and hearts. We always need to be mindful of our intentions and remember that Allah (swt) knows all. Then the heart is mentioned which is a recurring theme throughout the surah and the Quran. Finally, it is the incredibly mercy of Allah that is shown here, and I am really thankful for this verse because how many times do people swear something that they don’t really mean? It is a part of so many cultures to say “I swear” in daily language, so we should be thankful to Allah swt for the meaningless in our oaths not to be taken to account.

Divorce

Student of Al Huda
A practice common to the Arabs was swearing to their wives that they would not have sexual relations with them and leaving those women. They would leave sometimes for long periods of time and the women would be left wavering. They would not be able to resume married life and also would not be able to marry anyone else as they were already in a marriage. For this reason Allah has given a time period of four months. If within these four months the husband comes back then they may resume the marriage and if not it would lead to divorce.
 Allah has told us that women must remain in their iddat (waiting period) after divorce for three of their menstrual cycles. It is not allowed that they conceal a pregnancy during this time if they are truly believers in Allah and the day of judgement.
The divorce mentioned here is not the entire divorce but it talks about the divorce pronounced the first time. Divorce truly occurs after the third time that it is given. During this waiting period the woman will wait at her husbands house and he may take her back during this time.