NO MAINTENANCE ALLOWANCE FOR A DIVORCEE

FAtima hint Quais was divorced by her husband �when he was away from home.� She was very angry and went to Muhammad, who told her: �There is no lodging and maintenance allowance for a woman who has been given irrevocable divorce.� But he mercifully helped her to find another husband.  She had two suitors, AbU Jahm and Mu�Awiya.  Muhammad advised against them both, for the former did �not put down his staff from his shoulder� (i.e., he beat his wives), and the latter was poor.  In their place, he proposed the name of UsAma b. Zaid, the son of his slave and adopted son, Zaid (3512).

Later on a more generous sentiment prevailed.  �Umar ruled that husbands should provide their divorced wives with a maintenance allowance during the period of �idda on the ground that the true purpose of the Prophet�s words had been misunderstood by FAtima, a mere woman.  �We cannot abandon the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of our Apostle for the words of a woman� (3524).

�Idda is a period of waiting during which a woman cannot remarry.  It normally lasts four months and ten days but ends sooner if the woman gives birth to a child.  Once �idda has ended, the woman can contract another marriage (3536-3538).

Having to provide an allowance for four months at the most was not very difficult.  Thus, since husbands had almost no fear of any future burden, and could get rid of their wives so easily, the threat of divorce hung heavily on Muslim women.

author : ram swarup