skills/sistani-guidance/references/books/jme/pages-193-204.md

# Jurisprudence Made Easy

PDF pages 193 to 204. Physical PDF numbering, not inferred printed labels.

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Previous block: [pages 181 to 192](pages-181-192.md).

Next block: [pages 205 to 216](pages-205-216.md).

## PDF PAGE 193

```text
193
her not believing in the permissibility of temporary
marriage?
- Nevertheless, marrying her on such basis is allowed.
9. A man is not permitted to marry more than four women
by way of permanent marriage. He also has the right to
divorce his wives.
```

## PDF PAGE 194

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194
Dialogue on divorce
Allah Almighty hates divorce. Traditions discouraging
divorce abound. It has been narrated from Imam Ja’far as-
Sadiq (a.s.), “There is nothingmore hateful to Allah, the
Exalted, than divorce”. The Imam (a.s.) wasalso quoted as
saying, “Marry and do not divorce your wives, for
divorcecauses the Throne to rock”.
* Is it that abhorrent?
- Yes, and to keep abreast with the rules of divorce, I am
going to outlinethe conditions that should be fulfilled so
that divorce can be deemed valid.
The party who is filing for divorce must be adult, sane, and
have freewill. That is, a divorce coming from a boy, the
insane, or one who is underduress is invalid.
The intent, by either or both parties, to go their own
separate ways. That is, the divorce shall not be in order
when it is done in jest, inadvertently,or by someone who
is not able to discern what it means to divorce
one’spartner.
* What is the formal wording of divorce?
- Divorce shall not be enforced, unless a particular
procedure is followed. The formal wording of divorce
should be recited in Arabic, for those whocan speak the
language, in the presence of two witnesses of impeccable
character.
The husband may utter the following, “My wife -
mentioning her name - ishereby divorced”. If she is
present, he could say to her, “You are divorced”. If there is
a proxy acting on behalf of the husband, he could say,
“Thewife of my mandator - stating her name - is hereby
divorced”. There andthen, divorce becomes a reality.
* Is it compulsory to mention the name of the wife?
- No, it is not necessary, if she is known, identifiable, and
the husbanddoes not have any other wife beside her.
```

## PDF PAGE 195

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195
However, divorce cannot be carried out, unless the wife is
free from haydhor nifas, except for a wife in a marriage
that was not consummated, a pregnantwoman, and some
cases of absent husbands. The husband is not permittedto
divorce his wife, who was tahir of haydh, after having a
sexual intercoursewith her; he should wait until she had
her next haydh and become tahirthereof. Only then can
he divorce her.
In a temporary marriage there shall be no divorce. Instead,
the expirationof the agreed duration of marriage heralds
the end of the relationship. If separation is sought before
the end of the duration of marriage, thehusband can
grant the wife the remaining period by saying, “I grant
youthe remaining period”.
The validity of granting the remaining period does not
warrant the presenceof witnesses, nor does it require the
woman to be tahir from a haydh ornifas.
A divorced wife who has not attained menopause, after
the marriage wasconsummated, should observe a waiting
period from the date the divorce waspronounced, not
from the date the news of the divorce was broken to her.
The waiting period for a non-pregnant woman is three
menstrual periods. The duration between the divorcee
and menstruation is considered one period,irrespective of
whether it was short.
* Does this mean that the period of waiting of a divorced
woman ends assoon as the third menstruation occurs?
- Yes, that is correct.
* What about the waiting period of a divorced pregnant
woman?
- The waiting period of a divorced pregnant woman is the
duration of herpregnancy, irrespective of whether it was
full, culminating in birth, orpremature or still birth.
* Is it the case, even she gave birth to her baby one day
after the divorcewas announced?
```

## PDF PAGE 196

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196
- Yes, even if her giving birth took place one hour after she
was divorced,provided that the born baby is the offspring
of her ex-husband, i.e. notillegitimate.
* Should the woman, who was a party to a temporary
marriage, observe awaiting period, after separating from
her husband?
- Yes, if she was adult, of a menopausal age, not pregnant,
and her marriagewas consummated, the waiting period is
[two menstrual periods], for thewoman who still has a
period, and forty five days for her whose period
hasstopped due to illness or any other reason.
As for divorce, which is the prerogative of the husband, it
is of two kinds- irrevocable and revocable.
In an irrevocable divorce, the husband may not return to
his divorced wife,without a new marriage contract.
In a revocable one, the husband may return to his wife
without the needof a new contract or dowry, so long as
she was still in her waiting period.
Of the types of irrevocable divorce is (khal’ie), i.e. at the
instanceof the wife, who must pay a compensation to the
husband. It is the caseof a wife who is unhappy with her
husband, so much so that she resorts tothreatening that
she will not grant him his matrimonial rights. This
khali’edivorce can come about when the wife is
determined to end the marriage. She can address the
husband thus, “I absolve you of paying my dowry,
providedthat you part company with me”. The husband
can reply, in Arabic and inthe presence of two witnesses
of unblemished character, “My wife, -statingher name- is
divorced in return for the compensation she offered”, or
“Xis divorced in return for - x - amount”.
* Do you have to mention the name of the wife here?
- If she was identifiable, i.e. being the only wife for
instance, youmay choose not to mention her name.
* Is it all right if the compensation offered to the husband
```

## PDF PAGE 197

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197
is anythingother than the dowry?
- Yes, it is in order.
* Can man and wife appoint proxies to carry out the
divorce procedure?
- Yes, they can.
* In some cases, the absent husband’s whereabouts are
not known and itcannot be ascertained as to whether he
is alive, can the wife divorce him?
- The wife has the right of recourse to the Marji’. In such a
case hewould normally request that every effort should be
made to trace the absenthusband. This could take the best
part of four years. The investigationperiod may yield
nothing of substance regarding the husband’s
whereaboutsor fate. The other course of action, that must
be exhausted, is if thehusband has any property the
marriage can still be salvaged by providingmaintenance
for the wife. If he has an agent, he should provide for
thewife. If neither is forthcoming, the Marji’ could instruct
the agent togrant her a divorce. In the event of the agent
refusing to comply, or thehusband having no agent, the
Marji’ can pronounce her divorced.
* If the husband was imprisoned for life, and thus not in a
position tomaintain his wife, but was insistent on not
divorcing her, what will happen?
- She could approach the Marji’. He would contact the
husband to instructhim to grant his wife a divorce. Should
he choose not comply, and it wasnot feasible to force him
to do so, the Marji’ could pronounce her divorced.
```

## PDF PAGE 198

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198
Dialogue on votive offering, pledge,
and oath
A friend of mine complained to me that his mother
favoured his younger brother over him. I asked him, “In
what way?”. He said, “By making a sacrificial offering, as a
token of thanksgiving to The Almighty for His grace in
restoring the health of my ill brother”. I said to him, “Did
you ask her why?”. He replied, “Yes, she said to me that
making a vow for the speedy recovery of my brother does
not mean she favoured him over me. She also said that my
parents had already slaughtered a sheep for me, by way of
aqiqah (meaning will follow) when I was only seven days
old and that they sacrificed an udhhiyah (meaning will
follow) for me”.
There I stopped him because the words aqiqah and
udhhiyah did not make any sense to me. I promised him to
resume talking about it after I had asked my father.
* What is aqiqah and udhhiyah?
- Aqiqah, my son, is an authentic sunnah (Prophetic
practice, i.e. by word and/or deed), for those who can
afford it. It was enjoined by the Prophet Mohammad
(s.a.w). A sheep or a cow is sacrificed on the seventh day
after the birth of the infant, male and female, when
his/her hair is cut.
It has been related from the Prophet (s.a.w.) that he
uttered adhan in the ears of Imam Hassan and Imam
Hussain (a.s.) when they were born and offered a
sacrificial animal on the seventh day after their birth.
Those of us whose parents could not afford aqiqah at the
time, may do so themselves.
* Well, this is aqiqah. What is udhhiyah?
- Udhhiyah is to sacrifice an animal on the day of Eidul
Adhha. It is an authentic sunnah of the Prophet (s.a.w.)
```

## PDF PAGE 199

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199
too. The meat of the sacrificed animal may be donated on
behalf of the dead and the living, both young and adult. It
may be done every year.
* Now, can I take you back to the tale of my friend and his
mother. Is it compulsory that the woman fulfils her vow, or
is it mustahab, like aqiqah and udhhiyah, the practice of
which follows the sunnah?
- Let may say this to you.
To vow means that you commit yourself to doing a
particular thing, or forsake a particular deed or word, for
the sake of Allah, the Most High.
Fulfilling a vow is not always viable, unless certain criteria
are met.
* What are these criteria?
- These are:
1. The wording of the vow, be it in Arabic or any other
language, should be couched in such a way that the
ultimate objective is to seek the pleasure of Allah
Almighty, and that such wording should include His
name, i.e. Allah or any of his other exclusive names and
attributes.
* Should the person making the vow not say, “I am
indebted to Allah, God, or the Merciful (ar-Rahman)”, what
will happen?
- There shall be no obligation to fulfil the vow.
2. The thing offered for a votive offering should be
ethically and religiously viable, especially when it comes to
certain actions emanating from the vow.
* What if it was not acceptable, yet it could be
reprehensible, damaging, or permissible?
- A vow is not in order, if the deed contingent on the vow
was reprehensible or damaging. If it was permissible, it
shall be deemed sound when the ultimate intention leads
```

## PDF PAGE 200

```text
211
to a lawful action. For example, if you make a vow to drink
water to be more able to worship God, your vow shall
become binding.
3. The person making the vow must be adult, sane, intent
on carrying out the vow, have free choice and access to
that which is related to his vow.
4. That which is vowed should be identifiable and
affordable.
* So, should I take it that, if a person makes a vow
according to the conditions you have mentioned, he
should be expected to fulfil such a vow?
- Yes, it becomes binding on him to carry out his vow, be it
commission or omission of an action, during a prescribed
period or for a lifetime, or donating anything.
* What if the person, who made the vow, does not comply
with it out of choice?
- Kaffarah shall become due. That is emancipating a slave,
or feeding ten poor people, or clothing the same number
of poor people.
* If the person could not do that because of want, for
example?
- He should fast three consecutive days.
* If a person makes a vow to donate some money to the
holy shrines, what could be the avenues of spending that
money?
- It could be spent on repairing, maintaining, lighting,
carpeting, heating and air conditioning the shrine. That is,
if the donor did not specify any of these avenues, or
others.
* Should the person making the vow specify his donation
to the person of, say, the Prophet (s.a.w.) or the Imam
(a.s.), rather than the building, how is it going to be
spent?
```

## PDF PAGE 201

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211
- The donated money could be distributed to the poor
among the visitors of the shrine or spent on maintaining
the building.
* Should a person have a strong inkling that they made a
certain vow, is it compulsory on them to fulfil it?
- Yes, if they were absolutely sure.
If someone made a pledge to Allah Almighty to do
something or refrain from committing a certain action, he
must fulfil that pledge.
* Does this mean that a pledge is like a vow, in that it shall
not be in order, unless it caters for a particular wording
that includes the Name of Allah?
- Yes, and furthermore the commission or omission of the
action should be acceptable, from a personal standpoint,
and lawful from a religious perspective.
It is worth noting, though, that the same conditions, I
explained earlier, which apply in the case of a vow, apply
in the case of a pledge.
* Should the person who made the pledge deliberately
choose not to fulfil it, what shall be the ruling?
- He must make up for flouting the pledge by paying a
kaffarah (expiation). In this case, it is either setting a slave
free, feeding sixty poor people, or observing fasting for
two consecutive months.
Insofar as oath is concerned, it should be fulfilled. If it was
intentionally broken, the kaffarah shall be either
emancipating one slave, or feeding or clothing ten poor
people. In the event of inability to come up with any of
these, fasting three days in a row should suffice.
Central to the oath is the wording, i.e. it should be linked
to the Name of Allah, such as “By Allah, or I swear by the
Almighty, I shall do this or that”. The action, or otherwise,
resulting from fulfilling the oath ought to be acceptable
and affordable; it should also be lawful from a religious
standpoint. It should still be sound, if he swore for a
```

## PDF PAGE 202

```text
212
worldly gain. The person making the oath should be adult,
sane, exercising free will, and clear in his mind as to the
consequences of the action.
* If someone said to another, “By God, you have to do this
or that”, would this be deemed as oath?
- An oath does not extend to include asking, or ordering,
other people to carry out certain actions. Also, it does not
cover the past. Thus, such oaths have no consequence,
An Oath shall not become binding on the son, if his father
banned him from doing certain things. Neither shall it
become binding on the wife, if she flagrantly disobeyed
the orders of her husband.
If either makes an oath without the permission of either
the father or the husband, they can undo the oath.
* A person could make an oath on the veracity of his
honesty, for example. Is it all right?
- Genuine oath is permissible, yet makrouh.
As for false oath, it is forbidden; it could be among grave
sins, unless it is made out of necessity.
* In what way?
- For example, if the person making the oath was aiming
at warding off oppression from himself or his fellow
believers. The circumstances may warrant the engaging in
false oath to avert danger to one’s life, honour, or those of
his brethren. However, if there was room for equivocation
(tawriyah), [he may resort to it].
```

## PDF PAGE 203

```text
213
Dialogue on writing a will
My father started today’s session with a hadith from Imam
Ja’far as-Sadiq, “Leaving a will is a (religious) duty; the
Prophet (s.a.w.) had done so, and so should Muslims”.
* Yet, some people do not write wills under the false
impression and pessimism that their death has drawn
nigh.
- Making a will is a commendable act (mustahab); it is
widely believed to prolong life. Conversely, leaving out
the making of a will is makrouh and not a good thing to
do.
After all, isn’t death inevitable?
* Yes, and rightly so. Allah, the Exalted says in His Holy
Book, “Every soul shall taste of death ...” (3/185).
- If this was the case, why should any one of us try to
evade the inevitable?
We have to be practical and get ready for that which will
befall us all, whether we lived a long or a short life.
* How should I go about making a will?
- It is mustahab you start your will with the du’a
(supplication, or invocation) that the Prophet (s.a.w.)
taught Imam Ali (a.s.).
* What does it say?
- My father stood up, went to his library and came back
with a book entitled “Al-Wasaa’il”. He read out the text of
the supplication.
I was writing what he dictated to me. It reads thus:
”O Lord! Originator of the heavens and the earth, the
Only Source of knowledge of the unseen and the seen,
the All-compassionate, the All-merciful. O Lord! I bear
witness that there is no god but You, that You have no
associates, and that Mohammad is your servant and
messenger. That paradise, hell, resurrection, reckoning,
destiny, and justice are true. That religion is as You
```

## PDF PAGE 204

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214
described, Islam as You made plain, the word as You
narrated, The Qur’an as You stated. That You are God -
The Glaring Truth.
May Allah reward Mohammad with the best recompense.
May He bless Mohammad and his Progeny and grant them
peace.
O Lord! You are my refuge at times of fear, my ally at times
of trouble, and the Giver of my boon. My God and the God
of my ancestors! Do not make me rely on my soul, for if
You do, it will tempt me to incline to that which is evil, and
allure me to abandon that which is good. Make my
loneliness in the grave friendlier. And make me a pledge
that I return to You with the best outcome”.
After this introduction, the person can state his will.
* What are the matters that could be included in a will?
- Things like a) taking care of one’s offspring, especially the
minors among them, and the rest of his family, b) to be
kind to his kindred, c) to pay his debts, if any, and d)
releasing deposits in his trust. He could leave in his estate
the amount of expenses that shall arise from paying for
people who shall carry out certain obligations he did not
perform in his lifetime, such as prayer, fasting, hajj, and
paying out any amounts of khums and zakat that are
outstanding. He could state that the poor be fed, and
make out payments of sadaqah in his memory. He could
ask for certain things to be done after his departure. In
short he could ask for the implementation of anything he
wished.
However, it is important to note that there are certain
conditions that should be met by the person making the
will. These are, they should be adult, sane, of a full legal
age, hence the will of the incompetent (safeeh) shall not
be in order. Nor shall be the will of a person who was
coerced into making the requirement in the will. The will
of the boy who is under ten years of age, provided the
```