Maintenance After Divorce and Feminism
Question:
My friend asked a very relevant question on an ongoing debate about payment to divorced Muslim women.
He asks that on one hand champions of gender equality say that woman folks are equal to men in every sphere of life and have great difficulty coming to terms with the verse of the Quran where it makes a man Qawwam (guardian/in charge) in the context of a family, but simultaneously they demean women as lesser equals, who need to be supported by a man with whom they do not have any relationship after divorce.
While Islam doesn't put financial responsibilities on woman (worth clarifying that it doesn't prevent them from working either) in case of separation it makes obligatory a one off financial payment which is fair and according to the norms.
But what if woman was working, in a decent job , earning equal or even more than her husband, as all our feminist friends would like the situation to be.
Should such a woman pay a man in case of divorce? After all being equals demands such provisions.
Or are our feminist friends trying to say that woman is not equal to a man when she enters into a marriage contract?
Answer:
Before answering your friend's question let me first briefly explain what the ruling of the Qur'an about the matter of maintenance after divorce is. This will help the visitors of the website to better understand the question:
In verses 2:241, 2:236 and 33:49 the Qur'an advises men to pay or offer their divorced wife something upon the completion of divorce. There are mainly three views about the meaning of these verses:
- Some scholars have the view that this is only for those women who did not receive dowry and did not have husband and wife relationship before the divorce. This seems to be the majority view among both Shia and Sunni jurists.
- Some scholars believe that this is for all divorced women and it is an obligation.
- Some scholars believe that this is for all divorced women but it is not an obligation but a highly recommended act.
Based on what I see in the verses under the question and the other relevant verses, I agree with the third view.
The question, as I have understood it, is about the above kind of maintenance. However please also note that there are two other advises to maintenance of the women in the process of divorce or after it. These are:
- maintenance during the iddah (when the intention of divorce is announced till the divorce is finalised after the waiting period).
- maintenance during suckling of the child where applies.
My assumption is that the above are not included in the question, but I am happy to discuss the above in a follow up correspondence if needed.
**********
I now try to answer your friend's question:
1. Your friend has asked this from feminists. I am not a feminist. I am simply a student of the Qur'an who shares his honest understanding with others.
2. Your friend writes "champions of equal rights have great difficulty to terms with the verse of the Qur'an about Qawwamun".
Again, I am not a champion of equal rights, but in any case, I think those among the advocates of rights of women who know the Qur'an have no difficulty in believing in equal rights while looking at the verse of Qawwamun. The great difficulty is for those who appreciate that the two assumptions (4:34) that the verse refers to (advantage, and finance) no longer apply in many societies and families but still try to argue that the ruling that was made based on these assumptions (men being qawwamun) applies.
3. Those who argue for the right of women in Islam, while being loyal to the Qur'an, do that not based on any feminism agendas, but based on the Qur'an Itself. They recognise that the base of every rule of shari'ah is in fact akhlaq (morals), which in the case of social law is illustrated as justice. They also appreciate that the rules of the Qur'an that were revealed at the time were based on the social and infrastructural conditions of the time and location. The Qur'an encourages us to think and by thinking (i.e. using rationality) these intellectuals come to understand that as the conditions evolve, rules need to evolve as well, otherwise the same rule that was revealed to bring justice will cause injustice and immoral results.
4. Your friend asks: "what if (the) woman was working, in a decent job, earning equal or even more than the husband ... should such a woman pay a man in case of divorce"?
Before I answer this question I would very much like to know your friend's view about this. If a woman is in the situation that he described, does he agree that at least one of the assumptions that the verse of qawwamun holds is not true anymore? If the answer is yes, then on what basis he thinks that while at least one of the assumptions does not apply, still the ruling that was based on that assumption applies? And if he thinks the ruling still applies, then I would like to learn from him that in what way we can argue that the ruling is still fair and just?
Now my answer to your friend's main question:
The reason the Qur'an is advising men to support women, as a one off maintenance, after completion of divorce is that in the Arabian society at the time, overall, women were not in a position to support themselves. They needed a man to support them. For this same reason men were in charge of taking care of their wives during marriage and for the same reason men were advised to pay or offer their divorced wife something upon the completion of divorce. This was even more crucial as (due to the same reason as above) it was only the man who had the authority to cancel the contract of marriage.
Accordingly I conclude that if a man is in the same situation as above, that is:
a. the wife is the real source of finance for him and
b. the wife initiated the process of divorce
then the same wisdom makes the wife morally responsible to pay or offer her divorced husband something upon completion of divorce.
This is how I see the Qur'an to be relevant and applicable for all times.
--------
Related Answer:
- Why all that women get is bad news?!
--------
Farhad Shafti
August 2018
My friend asked a very relevant question on an ongoing debate about payment to divorced Muslim women.
He asks that on one hand champions of gender equality say that woman folks are equal to men in every sphere of life and have great difficulty coming to terms with the verse of the Quran where it makes a man Qawwam (guardian/in charge) in the context of a family, but simultaneously they demean women as lesser equals, who need to be supported by a man with whom they do not have any relationship after divorce.
While Islam doesn't put financial responsibilities on woman (worth clarifying that it doesn't prevent them from working either) in case of separation it makes obligatory a one off financial payment which is fair and according to the norms.
But what if woman was working, in a decent job , earning equal or even more than her husband, as all our feminist friends would like the situation to be.
Should such a woman pay a man in case of divorce? After all being equals demands such provisions.
Or are our feminist friends trying to say that woman is not equal to a man when she enters into a marriage contract?
Answer:
Before answering your friend's question let me first briefly explain what the ruling of the Qur'an about the matter of maintenance after divorce is. This will help the visitors of the website to better understand the question:
In verses 2:241, 2:236 and 33:49 the Qur'an advises men to pay or offer their divorced wife something upon the completion of divorce. There are mainly three views about the meaning of these verses:
- Some scholars have the view that this is only for those women who did not receive dowry and did not have husband and wife relationship before the divorce. This seems to be the majority view among both Shia and Sunni jurists.
- Some scholars believe that this is for all divorced women and it is an obligation.
- Some scholars believe that this is for all divorced women but it is not an obligation but a highly recommended act.
Based on what I see in the verses under the question and the other relevant verses, I agree with the third view.
The question, as I have understood it, is about the above kind of maintenance. However please also note that there are two other advises to maintenance of the women in the process of divorce or after it. These are:
- maintenance during the iddah (when the intention of divorce is announced till the divorce is finalised after the waiting period).
- maintenance during suckling of the child where applies.
My assumption is that the above are not included in the question, but I am happy to discuss the above in a follow up correspondence if needed.
**********
I now try to answer your friend's question:
1. Your friend has asked this from feminists. I am not a feminist. I am simply a student of the Qur'an who shares his honest understanding with others.
2. Your friend writes "champions of equal rights have great difficulty to terms with the verse of the Qur'an about Qawwamun".
Again, I am not a champion of equal rights, but in any case, I think those among the advocates of rights of women who know the Qur'an have no difficulty in believing in equal rights while looking at the verse of Qawwamun. The great difficulty is for those who appreciate that the two assumptions (4:34) that the verse refers to (advantage, and finance) no longer apply in many societies and families but still try to argue that the ruling that was made based on these assumptions (men being qawwamun) applies.
3. Those who argue for the right of women in Islam, while being loyal to the Qur'an, do that not based on any feminism agendas, but based on the Qur'an Itself. They recognise that the base of every rule of shari'ah is in fact akhlaq (morals), which in the case of social law is illustrated as justice. They also appreciate that the rules of the Qur'an that were revealed at the time were based on the social and infrastructural conditions of the time and location. The Qur'an encourages us to think and by thinking (i.e. using rationality) these intellectuals come to understand that as the conditions evolve, rules need to evolve as well, otherwise the same rule that was revealed to bring justice will cause injustice and immoral results.
4. Your friend asks: "what if (the) woman was working, in a decent job, earning equal or even more than the husband ... should such a woman pay a man in case of divorce"?
Before I answer this question I would very much like to know your friend's view about this. If a woman is in the situation that he described, does he agree that at least one of the assumptions that the verse of qawwamun holds is not true anymore? If the answer is yes, then on what basis he thinks that while at least one of the assumptions does not apply, still the ruling that was based on that assumption applies? And if he thinks the ruling still applies, then I would like to learn from him that in what way we can argue that the ruling is still fair and just?
Now my answer to your friend's main question:
The reason the Qur'an is advising men to support women, as a one off maintenance, after completion of divorce is that in the Arabian society at the time, overall, women were not in a position to support themselves. They needed a man to support them. For this same reason men were in charge of taking care of their wives during marriage and for the same reason men were advised to pay or offer their divorced wife something upon the completion of divorce. This was even more crucial as (due to the same reason as above) it was only the man who had the authority to cancel the contract of marriage.
Accordingly I conclude that if a man is in the same situation as above, that is:
a. the wife is the real source of finance for him and
b. the wife initiated the process of divorce
then the same wisdom makes the wife morally responsible to pay or offer her divorced husband something upon completion of divorce.
This is how I see the Qur'an to be relevant and applicable for all times.
--------
Related Answer:
- Why all that women get is bad news?!
--------
Farhad Shafti
August 2018
