2. Al-Baqara

Do not get married, O believers, to those women who give partners to Allah until they have faith in Him alone and enter the path of Islam. A woman who is a slave but has faith in Allah and His Messenger is better than a free woman who worships idols, even though you may be impressed by her beauty and wealth. Do not give Muslim women in marriage to men who are idolaters. A slave man who has faith in Allah and His Messenger is better than a free man who is an idolater, even though he may seem impressive to you. Men and women who commit idolatry, invite by their statements and actions, towards that which will lead to entering the fire of Hell. Allah, on the other hand, invites to good actions which will lead to entry into Paradise and forgiveness of sins by His permission and grace. Allah makes His verses clear for people so that they may learn and act obediently.

Your wives are a place for you to sow your seed: they produce children for you just as the land produces crops. So approach the plantation, which is the vagina, from whichever direction and in whichever manner you wish as long as intercourse takes place in the vagina. Send forth something good for yourselves, such as having sexual intercourse with the intention of gaining closeness to Allah and with the hope of pious offspring. Be mindful of Allah by fulfilling His instructions and avoiding His prohibitions, such as those relating to women. Know that you are to meet Him on the Day of Resurrection and will have to stand before Him to receive the reward for your actions. O Prophet, give the believers good news of everlasting blessings that will surely please them when they meet their Lord: seeing His Blessed Face.

Do not use the name of Allah in your oath as an excuse for not doing good e.g. being mindful of Him, being virtuous, and reconciling between people. Yet if you have taken an oath not to do any good actions, then do good actions and make a compensation for the oath. Allah hears your statements and knows your actions and will reward you for them.

Allah will not take you to account for those oaths that you swear unintentionally, such as if someone carelessly says, ‘No, by Allah!’ or ‘Yes, by Allah!’ For such oaths there is no need to make any compensation, nor any further consequences. However, He will take you to account for intentional oaths. Allah forgives and tolerates the sins of His servants and is not hasty in sending punishment.

For those who swear an oath not to have sexual intercourse with their wives, there is a waiting period not longer than four months, starting from the date of the oath. If he abandons the oath and engages in sexual intercourse after having sworn not to, and this happens within the four months period, then Allah forgives them. Allah is merciful and has established compensation as a way out from such an oath.

If such a man is determined to continue his oath and so passes the four months period, intending by that a divorce, then Allah hears their statements, including the divorce, and He knows their states and intentions and will reward them for that.

Divorced women must not remarry after a divorce for three menstrual periods. If they are true in their faith in Allah and the Last Day, they may not hide the foetus that Allah has created in their wombs. Their husbands, who issued the divorce, have the first right to recall them during the waiting period if their intention is to live well with them and to cancel what has occurred because of the divorce. Wives have rights and obligations like those of husbands in a manner that people consider fair. Men have a higher rank than them in terms of responsibility and with respect to divorce. Allah is Mighty and nothing can overcome His decree. He is Wise in His legislation and planning.

The divorce, after which a husband may recall his wife, can only happen twice. He may divorce her the first time, recall her, divorce her again and recall her once more. After two divorces he must either keep her in his marriage, living in a good way with her, or divorce her for the third time, being good to her by fulfilling her rights. Then the wife is temporarily prohibited for him until she marries another man (see Sūrah Al-Baqarah: 230, below). At the time of divorce, husbands may not take any part of the dowry that they had given their wives. However, if a woman is unhappy with her husband because of his character or looks, and the couple are of the view that, because of this, they will be not be able to fulfil the rights of marriage, then they should present the matter to a person related to them or someone who is familiar with them. If they feel that the couple will not be able to fulfil the rights of marriage, then there is no harm if the woman offers to give something to the husband in return for a divorce. These laws of the shariah are the criterion for the lawful and unlawful, so do not overstep them. Whoever oversteps the limits of Allah with regards to the lawful and the unlawful, then such people are wronging their own selves by bringing them to destruction and exposing them to Allah’s anger and justice.

If the husband divorces her for the third time, he may not remarry her until she gets married to another man in a valid marriage that is genuine and not merely contracted to make her lawful for the original husband, and where sexual intercourse has taken place in this later marriage. Should the second husband divorce her or pass away, the woman and her first husband may return to one another with a new marriage contract and dowry, if they feel that they will fulfil the rights of each other set-out in the sacred law. These rules are made clear by Allah for people who know His laws and limits, as they are the ones who benefit from them.