Book 68: Divorce
Overview
Sahih al-Bukhari Chapter 68 (Divorce) serves as a foundational text for Islamic family law, meticulously detailing the legal mechanics of marital dissolution, waiting periods, and remarriage. The text establishes the parameters for a valid divorce, explicitly forbidding divorce during a woman's menstrual cycle while simultaneously affirming that such a divorce, if pronounced, still legally counts. It introduces the concept of the 'irrevocable triple divorce,' wherein a man who divorces his wife three times cannot remarry her unless she first marries another man, consummates that second marriage, and is subsequently divorced by him. The chapter also outlines 'Lian' (mutual imprecation), a legal mechanism for a husband to accuse his wife of adultery without the required four witnesses by swearing oaths invoking Allah's curse, resulting in permanent separation and the disowning of any resulting child. Furthermore, it details 'Khula,' allowing a wife to initiate divorce by returning her dowry (Mahr). The text heavily emphasizes the strict mourning period ('Iddah) for widows—four months and ten days—during which they are forbidden from using perfume, wearing kohl, or donning dyed garments. Interwoven with these legal rulings are historical narratives of the Prophet Muhammad's own domestic life, including the revelation of Quranic verses to settle disputes among his wives (the 'honey' incident), and his enforcement of capital punishment (stoning) for confessed adultery. Theologically, the text explicitly condemns the Christian belief in the Lordship of Jesus Christ as the highest form of polytheism (Shirk), creating a stark boundary between the Islamic community and Christian orthodoxy.
Key Figures
- Muhammad (Prophet): The supreme lawgiver and mediator whose personal domestic disputes and legal rulings establish the eternal jurisprudence for the Muslim community.
- Ibn 'Umar ('Abdullah bin 'Umar): A prominent companion whose divorce of his menstruating wife serves as the primary case study for the laws of timing in divorce.
- 'Umar bin Al-Khattab: The second Caliph, who frequently intervenes in domestic matters and seeks the Prophet's rulings on behalf of his son.
- 'Aisha: The Prophet's favored wife, who narrates numerous intimate details of the Prophet's domestic life, the 'honey' conspiracy, and rulings on women's issues.
- Barira: A freed slave woman whose choice to leave her slave husband (Mughith) establishes the legal precedent that a freed female slave has the option to dissolve her marriage.
- Mughith: Barira's husband, whose public weeping for his wife highlights the Prophet's role as an intercessor rather than a dictator in certain civil matters.
- Thabit bin Qais and his wife: Their case establishes the precedent for 'Khula', where a wife can buy her way out of a marriage she dislikes by returning her dowry.
- 'Uwaimir Al-'Ajlani and 'Asim bin Adi: The companions whose situation prompted the revelation and implementation of 'Lian' (mutual imprecation for un-witnessed adultery).
- Subai'a Al-Aslamiya: A widow whose case proves that a pregnant widow's waiting period ends immediately upon giving birth, overriding the standard four months and ten days.
Doctrines Analyzed
Key theological claims identified in this text:
The Irrevocable Triple Divorce and Intervening Marriage (Tahlil)
Assertion
If a man divorces his wife three times, she becomes completely unlawful to him. He cannot remarry her unless she marries another man, engages in sexual intercourse with the new husband, and is subsequently divorced by him.
Evidence from Text
[068:5052] 'The Prophet (ﷺ) replied, "No, she cannot marry the first husband unless the second husband consummates his marriage with her, just as the first husband had done."'
Evangelical Comparison
In Islamic jurisprudence, marriage is a civil contract (Nikah) that can be dissolved unilaterally by the husband. The 'triple divorce' rule was intended to prevent men from endlessly divorcing and taking back their wives. However, the prescribed solution—that the woman must marry and have sex with another man before returning to her original husband—is deeply antithetical to Evangelical Christianity. Evangelicalism views marriage as a sacred, one-flesh covenant instituted by God, reflecting the unbreakable union between Christ and His Church (Ephesians 5:31-32). Jesus strictly limited divorce to cases of sexual immorality (Matthew 19:9) or abandonment by an unbeliever (1 Corinthians 7:15). Furthermore, the specific Islamic requirement of an intervening consummated marriage directly violates Deuteronomy 24:1-4, which explicitly forbids a man from taking his wife back after she has been married to another, calling it a 'defilement' and an 'abomination before the Lord.' The Islamic doctrine treats the woman's sexual union as a legal mechanism to reset a contract, whereas Christianity views it as a profound spiritual bonding.
Christological Shirk (The Denial of Jesus' Lordship)
Assertion
Believing or confessing that Jesus is Lord is the greatest form of polytheism (Shirk), making Christian women unlawful for Muslim men to marry.
Evidence from Text
[068:5075] 'Allah has made it unlawful for the believers to marry ladies who ascribe partners in worship to Allah, and I do not know of a greater thing, as regards to ascribing partners in worship, etc. to Allah, than that a lady should say that Jesus is her Lord although he is just one of Allah's slaves.'
Evangelical Comparison
This text provides a stark and explicit boundary marker between Islam and Christianity. Ibn 'Umar categorizes Christians as polytheists (Mushrikun) specifically because of their Christology—namely, the confession that Jesus is Lord. In Islamic theology (Tawhid), God is an absolute, indivisible monad, and elevating any prophet or created being to the status of Lordship is the unforgivable sin of Shirk. For the Evangelical Christian, the confession of Jesus as Lord (Kurios) is the very bedrock of salvation. Romans 10:9 states, 'If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.' Philippians 2:10-11 declares that ultimately, 'every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.' The Hadith's assertion that Jesus is 'just one of Allah's slaves' directly attacks the biblical revelation of Christ's divine nature, His co-equality with the Father (John 1:1, John 10:30), and His unique role as the divine-human mediator.
Forgiveness of Unuttered Thoughts
Assertion
Allah forgives the evil thoughts of Muslims as long as they do not speak them aloud or act upon them.
Evidence from Text
[068:5060] 'Allah has forgiven my followers the evil thoughts that occur to their minds, as long as such thoughts are not put into action or uttered.'
Evangelical Comparison
Islamic theology often emphasizes external compliance and physical action over internal states when it comes to legal culpability. This Hadith provides comfort to Muslims by assuring them that internal temptations or evil thoughts are not held against them unless materialized into speech or action. Evangelical Christianity, drawing heavily on the teachings of Jesus, views the heart as the root of all sin. In Matthew 5:21-28, Jesus radically internalizes the Law, declaring that anger is akin to murder and that 'everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.' Furthermore, Hebrews 4:12 states that God's word judges 'the thoughts and intentions of the heart.' In the biblical worldview, humanity is totally depraved at the heart level (Jeremiah 17:9), requiring not just behavioral modification, but a spiritual rebirth and a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26, John 3:3).
Lian (Mutual Imprecation)
Assertion
If a husband accuses his wife of adultery but lacks four witnesses, the marriage is dissolved through a ritual of mutual oath-swearing where both parties invoke the curse/wrath of Allah upon themselves if they are lying.
Evidence from Text
[068:5098] 'So they carried out the process of Lian while I was present among the people with Allah's Messenger... When they had finished their Lian, 'Uwaimir said, "O Allah's Messenger! If I should now keep her with me as a wife, then I have told a lie." So he divorced her thrice before Allah's Messenger ordered him.'
Evangelical Comparison
Lian is a pragmatic legal solution in Islamic jurisprudence to handle unprovable claims of adultery, preventing the husband from being flogged for slander (Qadhf) while allowing him to disown a child he believes is not his. The process ends in the permanent, irrevocable dissolution of the marriage, regardless of the actual truth, which is left to Allah. Evangelical Christianity does not possess a legalistic equivalent to Lian. While adultery is grounds for divorce (Matthew 19:9), the biblical framework prioritizes truth, repentance, and the profound possibility of grace and reconciliation (as modeled by God and Israel, and Christ and the Church). The idea of formally invoking God's curse upon oneself or one's spouse as a mechanism for civil divorce is foreign to the New Testament ethic, which commands believers to 'bless and do not curse' (Romans 12:14) and emphasizes that Christ became a curse for us to redeem us from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13).
Khula (Divorce by Compensation)
Assertion
A wife may initiate a divorce even if her husband has no moral or religious defects, provided she returns her dowry (Mahr) to him as compensation.
Evidence from Text
[068:5065] 'The wife of Thabit bin Qais came to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! I do not blame Thabit for any defects in his character or his religion, but I cannot endure to live with him." On that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Will you return his garden to him?" She said, "Yes."'
Evangelical Comparison
Khula provides a mechanism for women in Islam to exit a marriage they find unbearable, even if the husband is righteous and fulfilling his duties. By returning the financial gift given at marriage, the contract is nullified. Evangelical Christianity views marriage not as a financial contract that can be bought out of, but as a lifelong covenant. Jesus explicitly taught that Moses permitted divorce only because of the 'hardness of heart,' but 'from the beginning it was not so' (Matthew 19:8). The biblical standard does not permit divorce simply because a spouse 'cannot endure to live with him' or fears becoming 'unthankful.' Divorce is restricted to severe covenant-breaking (sexual immorality or abandonment). The concept of Khula highlights the fundamental difference between a contractual worldview of marriage and a covenantal one.
Comparative Analysis
Theological Gap (Summary)
The text reveals a fundamental divide between Islam's view of marriage as a highly regulated, dissolvable civil contract and Christianity's view of marriage as an indissoluble, sacred covenant. Furthermore, it explicitly condemns the core Christian confession of Jesus' Lordship as the ultimate sin.
Theological Gap (Explained)
The theological gap between this text and Evangelical Christianity is vast, primarily concerning the doctrines of Marriage (Sacramentology/Covenant vs. Contract) and Christology. In the Hadith, marriage (Nikah) is a legal contract governed by strict, almost mechanistic rules. The 'triple divorce' (Talaq al-Bida) severs the marriage irrevocably. The mandated solution for reconciliation—Tahlil, where the woman must consummate a marriage with a new man before returning to her first husband—is viewed by Evangelicalism as state-sanctioned adultery and a profound violation of the one-flesh union (Matthew 19:4-6). It violates the explicit biblical command in Deuteronomy 24:1-4, demonstrating a legalistic framework that prioritizes contractual loopholes over the moral sanctity of the marital bed. Furthermore, Hadith 5075 creates an insurmountable Christological wall. By defining the confession 'Jesus is Lord' as the highest form of Shirk (polytheism), Islam directly attacks the foundational pillar of Christian soteriology. Sola Fide and Solus Christus rely entirely on the divine identity of Jesus. If Jesus is merely 'one of Allah's slaves,' His death cannot provide infinite atonement, and His resurrection has no salvific power. This text proves that Islam and Christianity do not worship the same God in different ways; they hold mutually exclusive definitions of God's nature and the means of salvation.
For All Ages
Imagine you make a promise to your best friend. In Christianity, marriage is like a super-promise made in front of God that glues two people together forever. God says, 'Don't break the glue!' But in this Islamic text, marriage is more like a business contract. If the husband says 'I divorce you' three times, the contract is ripped up. The craziest part is, if he wants to marry her again, she has to go marry a completely different man, sleep with him, and get divorced by him first. To a Christian, this sounds like forcing someone to do something very wrong just to fix a mistake. Also, the text says that the worst thing a person can do is call Jesus 'Lord.' But for Christians, calling Jesus 'Lord' is the exact way we are saved and go to heaven! So, the two religions have completely opposite rules about marriage and completely opposite beliefs about who Jesus is.
Friction Points
Sanctity of Marriage / Biblical Ethics
The requirement for a thrice-divorced woman to consummate a marriage with another man before returning to her husband violates Deut 24:1-4 and Christ's teaching on marriage.
Theology Proper / Christology
Explicitly labeling the confession of Jesus as Lord as the greatest form of polytheism (Shirk).
Sola Scriptura
Elevating Muhammad's situational domestic rulings (and the Hadith literature) to the level of eternal, divine law.
Total Depravity / Internal Sin
Claiming that unuttered evil thoughts are entirely forgiven and carry no moral weight, contradicting Jesus' teaching that sin originates in the heart.
Semantic Warnings
Terms that have different meanings between traditions:
"Divorce (Talaq)"
In This Text
A unilateral pronouncement by the husband that legally dissolves the marriage contract, which can be done up to three times.
In Evangelicalism
A tragic severing of a one-flesh covenant, permitted only under strict conditions of severe betrayal (porneia) or abandonment, and deeply hated by God.
"Polytheism (Shirk)"
In This Text
Ascribing partners to Allah, which explicitly includes the Christian belief in the Trinity and the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
In Evangelicalism
Worshipping false gods or idols. Believing Jesus is Lord is not polytheism, but the correct recognition of the Triune God.
Soteriology (Salvation)
Salvation Defined: Escaping the fire and entering Paradise by avoiding Shirk (polytheism) and obeying the legal boundaries set by Allah and Muhammad.
How Attained: Through strict adherence to Islamic law (Sharia), submission to the Prophet, and maintaining pure monotheism (Tawhid).
Basis of Assurance: Assurance is low, based on the continuous performance of legal duties and the hope of Allah's mercy, provided one has not committed Shirk.
Comparison to Sola Fide: The text is entirely works-and-law based. Salvation and righteousness are measured by exact compliance to rules (e.g., waiting exactly 4 months and 10 days). This is the antithesis of Sola Fide, where justification is a completed legal declaration based entirely on Christ's imputed righteousness, received by faith alone (Romans 3:28, 4:5).
Mandates & Requirements
Explicit Commands
- A man must take back a wife he divorced during her menses and wait until she is clean before divorcing her.
- A thrice-divorced woman must marry and consummate a marriage with another man before returning to her first husband.
- A widow must mourn for exactly four months and ten days.
- A widow in mourning must not wear kohl, perfume, or dyed clothes.
- Adulterers who confess must be stoned to death.
- Muslims must not marry Christians or Jews who ascribe partners to Allah (e.g., calling Jesus Lord).
- Do not take the price of a dog, earnings of a prostitute, or earnings of a soothsayer.
Implicit Obligations
- Absolute submission to the Prophet's rulings, even in deeply personal or domestic matters.
- The community must enforce the social boundaries of marriage, divorce, and mourning.
- Wives are expected to be sexually available to their husbands (implied by the Ila rules and the purpose of the Mahr).
Ritual Requirements
- The oath of Lian: Swearing four times by Allah regarding adultery, and a fifth time invoking Allah's curse/wrath.
- The ritual washing/cleansing from menses before a divorce can be legally pronounced in a state of purity.
- The oral pledge of allegiance for emigrating women (without physical touch).
Evangelism Toolkit
Practical tools for engagement and dialogue:
Discovery Questions
Open-ended questions to promote reflection:
- I read about the rule where a woman divorced three times must marry and sleep with another man before she can return to her first husband. How does that impact the heart and dignity of the woman involved?
- In the story about the honey (Hadith 5058), God sends down a revelation to settle a dispute between the Prophet's wives. How do you view the purpose of divine revelation? Is it mostly for legal/domestic rules, or for something else?
- The text says that calling Jesus 'Lord' is the greatest form of Shirk. As a Christian, calling Jesus 'Lord' is how I experience God's love and forgiveness. Have you ever read in the Injil (Gospel) why Christians believe Jesus is Lord?
Redemptive Analogies
Bridges from this text to the Gospel:
Khula (Ransom/Compensation for Freedom)
In Khula, a price must be paid to secure freedom from a binding contract. In the Gospel, we were bound to the law of sin and death, unable to free ourselves. Christ paid the 'Mahr' (the ransom price) with His own blood to buy our freedom and bring us into a covenant of love with Him.
The Need for an Intercessor
Mughith was helpless, weeping, and needed someone of higher authority to intercede for him to save his relationship. While Muhammad's intercession failed (Barira refused), Christ is the perfect, successful intercessor who pleads our case before the Father, ensuring our relationship with God is never broken.
Spiritual Weight
Burdens this text places on adherents:
Believers must meticulously track days, menstrual cycles, and exact utterances to ensure they are not living in sin. The sheer volume of technical rules regarding divorce and mourning places a heavy cognitive and spiritual burden on the adherent to 'get it exactly right' to please Allah.
For a woman who has been divorced three times (often in a fit of anger by her husband), the requirement to marry and have sex with a stranger just to legally return to the father of her children is profoundly degrading and induces deep shame and trauma.
Because unuttered thoughts are not judged, a believer may harbor deep bitterness, lust, or hatred, yet feel legally 'righteous' because they haven't spoken it. This prevents true heart-level healing and transformation.
The Lian process forces spouses to publicly call down the curse and wrath of God upon themselves. This creates an environment of fear, suspicion, and spiritual terror rather than grace and truth.