Divorce during Pregnancy, Allegorical Verses
A 1. The Prophet -peace be upon him- said: “The most hateful permissible thing (al-Halal) in the sight of Allah is divorce.” (Abu Da’ud, Hadith 1863, Ibn Majah, Hadith 2008). The spouses should avoid divorce as much as possible. If they have difficulties and problems they should try to work out their differences and seek help from their relatives, friends or professional counselors. However, if the differences are irreconcilable then divorce is permissible, but it should be done in a decent manner. The Shari’ah has given us clear guidelines as to what is the proper way of divorce and what is the improper way of divorce.
According to the Sunnah the proper time for divorce is when the wife is not in her menses and the husband has not approached her at all during this “clean condition” (tuhr). During menses sexual intercourse is not permissible. So the wife was free from menses and the husband in spite of the natural desire and permission to have sexual intercourse did not come close to her. If he divorces her during this time, this means that the differences are really serious.
Muslim jurists, however, have differed among themselves on the validity of divorce during menses. Most of the jurists consider divorce during menses valid, although it is undesirable (makruh). This means that if a husband divorced his wife during her menses, he committed something Makruh, but his wife is divorced from him.
The divorce during pregnancy is permissible and valid according to all jurists. The reason, probably, is that it is not forbidden to have sexual intercourse with wife during her pregnancy. During pregnancy the husband (or baby’s father) normally has a desire to be close to his wife and wants to see his baby as soon as he/she is born. He also knows that he has to take care of all the expenses of ‘iddah, pregnancy and after that of childcare.
All these things would naturally discourage him from divorce. But if he still divorces her, then it means that they have serious differences. It is reported in a Hadith that Ibn ‘Umar -may Allah be pleased with him- divorced his wife during her menses. When the Prophet -peace be upon him- knew about it, he told him to cancel his divorce. The Prophet said, “After her menses are over, he may divorce her when she is “clean” (tahir) or “pregnant” (hamil).” See Sahih Muslim, Hadith no. 2680.
Q 2. I was recently reading some material from a website. On this site, there is a reference to the verse 7 from Surah 3, ‘Al ‘Imran. This verse talks about how the Holy Qur’an has some fundamental and some allegorical verses, and those who want fitna take the allegorical verses whose meaning is known by Allah. Now, this verse itself is interesting and I would like to know your opinion about it in the light of the tafaseer done by various scholars.
A 2. Let us read this ayah and see what Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says. The meaning of the Ayah is as follows: “He it is Who has sent down to you the Book; in it are verses that are absolutely clear and lucid; they are the core of the Book: others are ambiguous. But those in whose hearts is perversity follow the part thereof that is ambiguous, seeking discord, and searching for its meanings arbitrarily. But no one knows its true meanings except Allah, and those who are firmly grounded in knowledge, they say: “We believe in it; the whole of it is from our Lord:” and none derives true admonition except the people of understanding.” (Al ‘Imran 3:7)
The ayah says that in the Qur’an there are two types of verses: Muhkam and Mutashabih. These words are used in the Qur’an in other places as well. We should try to understand their full meanings by checking other references.
In Surah Hud (11:1) Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala has called the whole Qur’an Muhkam (“Alif Lam Ra. (This is) a Book, with verses are clear and lucid - further explained in detail - from One Who is Wise and Well-Acquainted (with all things”) The word Mutashabih means something similar or something that may have different or more than one meanings. In Surah al-Baqarah 2:25 the fruits of Paradise are called “Mutashabih” (meaning similar to what we have in this world). In Surah al-Zumar 39:23 the whole Qur’an is called Mutashabih. (Allah has revealed the most beautiful Message in the form of a Book, consistent with itself, (yet) repeating (its teaching in various aspects): the skins of those who fear their Lord tremble thereat; then their skins and their hearts do soften to the celebration of Allah’s praises. Such is the guidance of Allah: He guides therewith whom He pleases, but such as Allah leaves to stray, can have none to guide.”) The whole Qur’an is Mutashabih meaning that it is consistent. It is not that some of it gives one meaning and another gives a totally opposite or contradictory meaning.
The meaning of the above ayah (Al ‘Imran 3:7) is that the Qur’an has very clear and lucid verses they are the core of the Book. But some verses may have more than one meaning, or some similar meanings. When you see those verse then you refer them to the clear and lucid verses to get the proper interpretation. Those who are sick and perverse they do not go back to clear and lucid verses, but they make their own arbitrary interpretations. The Qur’an should be explained through the Qur’an itself and through the authentic Sunnah. It should not be interpreted according to one’s own wishes and desires in an arbitrary manner.
It is important to note that Surah Al ‘Imran was revealed in Madinah. The first half of this Surah deals with Christian beliefs. It talks about Jesus and some Christian misconceptions about him. It is mentioned that the first half of this Surah was revealed when a group of Christians from Najran (Yemen) came to Madinah. Allah instructed Muslims that they should not behave like Christians, who left the clear and lucid teachings of their prophet and got involved in ambiguous words and thus distorted Jesus’ whole message. The right approach should have been to refer his words to the basic message of Tawhid, but they invented the Trinity by taking ambiguous words and through arbitrary interpretations changed the meanings of his clear message. They found that Jesus -peace be upon him- was born from a virgin. Instead of taking this as a sign of Allah’s power, they called him “Son of God” or “Incarnation of God”. Allah reminded Muslims that they should not follow this style in their interpretation of the Qur’an.
It is correct that the full and the absolute meaning of the Qur’an is know to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. That is why all great scholars after explaining the Qur’an used to say, “Allah a’lam” (Allah knows best). However, this does not mean that there are verses in the Qur’an whose meaning is known to Allah alone and human beings cannot know anything of their meaning. If human beings would not know the meaning then why would Allah reveal if for them. Why would Allah ask them to understand the Qur’an? We should try to do our best to know the meaning. The more we try the more we shall understand the depth and profoundness of the Book of Allah. The Prophet -peace be upon him- said, “The wonders of this Book shall never be exhausted.” Those who are firmly established in knowledge know the meaning of this Book and we should refer to them and learn from them the proper method of understanding the Qur’an. Those are the people who say that all of this Book is from our Lord and the people of wisdom take lessons from this Book.