Divorce by an Absent Husband

“I can testify that I heard abu Ja‘far (a.s.), saying, ‘A man absent from his wife can divorce her by counting new moons and months.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘If a man who is absent from his wife wants to divorce her, he can do so and he must leave her for one month.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘If a man who is absent from his wife wants to divorce her, he can do so and he must leave her for one month.’”

“I once asked abu Ja‘far (a.s.), about the case of a man who divorces his wife when he is absent from her. He is in another city and has two men as witness about his divorce; then he goes back to her without witness. After expiration of waiting period he comes and finds out that she has married another man. He sends a message to her informing her about his revoking the divorce before the expiration of waiting period without witnesses. He (the narrator) has said that he (the Imam) said, ‘He has no way to her because he has confirmed divorce and has claimed revocation without witness, thus, he has no way to her. It is proper for one who divorces or revokes divorce to have witness about revocation like divorce. Had he been there before her marriage he could have been one of those who proposes to her for marriage.’”

“I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who divorces his wife when he is absent from her. He arranges witnesses about his divorce; then he comes home and stays with her for months without informing her of divorce and the woman claims to have become pregnant but the man says. ‘I had divorced you in the presence of witnesses. He (the Imam) said, ‘He is responsible for the child and his words are not accepted.’”

“I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who has four wives, of whom he divorces one when he is absent from them. When is it permissible for him to marry? He (the Imam) said, ‘He can do so after nine months because there are two appointed times, the irregularity of Hayd (menses) and the irregularity of pregnancy.’”

“I once asked one of the two Imam, (abu Ja‘far or abu ‘ Abd Allah), ‘Alayhim al-Salam, about the case of a man who divorces his wife when he is absent from her. He (the Imam) said, ‘His divorce is permissible in all conditions and his wife commences waiting period from the day of divorce. 5 ”

“I once asked Muhammad ibn abu Hamzah about when a man absent from his wife can divorce. He said that Ishaq ibn ‘Ammar narrated to him from abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), or abu al-Hassan (a.s.), who said that he can do so after one month.”

“A certain one of our Mawali once wrote to abu Ja‘far (a.s.), asking, ‘With me there is a woman who is knowledgeable, whose husband created something unpopular and ran away from the land. A certain one of the people of the woman followed him and told him to divorce or that he returns him back. He then divorced and himself went his own way. What is your instruction for the woman ? 5 He (the Imam) wrote in his handwriting, ‘You can marry, may Allah be kind to you. 5 ”