Divorce of One Compelled and Coerced

“I once heard abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), saying, ‘If a Muslim man passes by a people who do have not any valid authority and they force him, he fears for his life, to set free a slave or divorce and he complies, it does not have any valid effect against him/”

“I once asked abu Ja‘far (a.s.), about the divorce of a man who is coerced and about his setting free slaves. He (the Imam) said, ‘His divorce is not a divorce and his setting free slaves is not valid freedom/ I then said, ‘I am a merchant and I pass by a one-tenth tax collector, with certain amount of assets with me/ He (the Imam) said, ‘Keep it concealed as much as you can in their proper place/ I then asked, ‘What must I do if they ask me to swear about divorce and setting free slaves?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘You can swear for him.’ He (the Imam) then took a piece of date and immersed it in butter in front of him (the Imam).’ He (the Imam) then said, ‘I do not mind about your swearing for divorce and setting free slaves or eating this.’”

“I once asked Allah’s virtuous servant (a.s.), when he was in al-‘Arid, (name of a place) saying, ‘I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause, I married a woman who loved me. I then married the daughter of my maternal uncle and from the woman I had a son. I returned to Baghdad and divorced her once, then I went back to her, then divorced her for the second time, then I went back to her and then left for this journey. I arrived in al-Kufah to see the daughter of my maternal uncle, and my sister and maternal aunt told me that, by Allah, I could never look at her until I divorced so and so. I then told them: ‘Fie on you; I have no way to divorce her.’ He said, ‘It is up to you and it is your problem.’ I then said, ‘I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause. From her I had a daughter who lived in Baghdad and this is in al-Kufah; I had left her before four and they refused to allow me to see her unless I divorced her three times. No, by Allah, I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause, I did not want to do so except that I wanted to keep them away from myself, and my heart has become full (of disappointment with them). I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause.’ He (the Imam) then bent down his head for a long time, then raised his head, smiling and said, ‘Between you and Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, there is no problem, however, if they take their case against you before the Sultan (ruling authorities) they can make her to become stranger to you.’”

“I once heard abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), saying, ‘Divorce under coercion is not permissible or setting free of a slave. It is not permissible to swear for cutting off good relations with relatives or for a sinful act in disobedience to Allah. Thus, whoever swears or is made to swear about something of this kind, it does not have any valid effect on him. Divorce is what is meant to be divorce, and without coercion or harming in a divorce in the manner of waiting period, according to the Sunnah, in a Hayd (menses)-free period, without sexual intercourse and is pronounced in the presence of two witnesses. If one opposes this, his divorce and oath do not have any valid effect and it is returned to the book of Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious.’”

“I pass by one-tenth tax collector for trading with a certain amount of assets with me and the party (tax collector) asks me to swear. If I swear he allows me to go, but if I do not swear he searches my assets and does injustice to me. He (the Imam) said, ‘You can swear for him.’ I then said, ‘He asks me to swear in the issue of divorce. He (the Imam) said, ‘You can swear for him.’ I said, ‘The asset does not belong to me.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Do it for the assets of your brother. The Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, reversed the divorce of ibn ‘Umar, who had divorced his wife three times during her Hayd (menses) and the Messenger of Allah considered it invalid and devoid of valid effect.’”