Nikah Halala is an age old practice done by a small group of the Islamic community, it is one of the few controversial topics in Islamic Law. The term Nikha Halala refers to those marriages which have been conducted to make the wife permissible for her previous husband.
As per Muslim Law, A man cannot remarry his wife after he divorced her, unless the wife is married to another man and gets divorced from that man (second husband) or after the death of the second husband. Thus the process of making the woman permissible for her first husband by giving her marriage to a third person with a pre-condition is known as Nikah Halala. In this process, the third person consummates the marriage with the object to make the woman permissible for her first husband.
This form of marriage is haram (forbidden) in Islam and condemned by the Holy Prophet on several occasions. The prophet said that the marriage with the object to divorce a woman so that she becomes permissible for her first husband is strictly prohibited in Islam and both the first husband and the temporary husband are cursed by God.
Meaning –
The term “Nikah” and “Halala” both are Arabic terms. “Nikah” means Marriage and “Halala” means to make something halal or permissible. Therefore the expression “Nikah Halala” literally means a marriage to make something halal or permissible.
Is Nikah Halala Supported by Holy Quran?
The most relevant verse of the Holy Quran regarding the evil practice of Nikah Halala is as follows –
“If a husband divorces his wife irrevocably, he cannot after remarry her until she is married to another husband and he has divorced her. In that case there is no blame on either of them if they reunite” Surah al-Baqarah, verse 2:230
The above verses of the Holy Quran prohibit a husband to remarry his divorced wife, until and unless she has been married to another man and gets divorced by her second husband.
The verses said as “if a husband divorces his wife irrevocably…….” So, to have a clear understanding, we should understand the term ‘irrevocable divorce’. In Islam, divorce can be classified as (a) revocable divorce and (b) irrevocable divorce.
What is revocable divorce and what is irrevocable divorce? Revocable divorce is a divorce in which the husband has the right to get her wife back without a new marriage, dower, and consent of the wife.
A divorce remains revocable until the completion of iddat period (iddat is a period of a duration of three months which a woman must have to observe after the dissolution of marriage, in this duration she cannot marry any other man, the reason for that is to avoid any doubt of paternity of child born after a separation of husband and wife)
Let’s understand revocable divorce by one example, Abdul, a Muslim man who divorced his wife. Now his wife has to observe the iddat. As long this iddat period exists the divorce is still revocable. Now before ending the iddat period Abdul realizes his mistake and want to continue their marital relationship. He can do it because the divorce was still revocable and they can easily revoke the same.
Now, if years after this, Abdul again divorce his wife due to any reason, the wife has to again go through iddat period, and before ending the iddat period, Abdul again realized that he did a mistake and he again wants to be united, in this case too they can easily continue the marital relationship because the divorce was revocable.
But if Abdul would have realized his mistake after the end of the iddat period in both the first and second divorce, the divorce would have become irrevocable. But in this example, Abdul realized his mistake in both the first and second divorce before the ends of iddat period, so the divorce didn’t become irrevocable in both cases.
Now, let’s think after two, three, or four years, again Abdul divorces his wife (third time).
Should Abdul be allowed to take back his wife again if he wants again to be in a marital relationship after realizing his mistake? The answer is No. Abdul won’t be allowed to take back his wife again because this time divorce becomes irrevocable.
Now, a question may arise in our mind that why it is so? This is because if Abdul again is allowed to take her wife back, he would have given his wife divorce again after few years and again take her back and again after few years so on…. So there is a need to stop Abdul to treat his wife like a toy. And this is the fundamental purpose of the said verses of the Holy Quran.
In Abdul’s case the divorce became irrevocable as soon he divorced his wife for the third time. Now Abdul could only be allowed to take his wife back if her wife marries another man with genuine intention and gets separated from the second husband by either divorce or by death.
Remember the intention of her second marriage must be genuine like to continue the marital relationship, and if the second marriage was conducted just to make her permissible for Abdul so that Abdul can remarry her again, is clearly void and prohibited in Islam. One hadith of Prophet Muhammad (PBHU) is enough evidence in this regard.
Uqbah bin Amir narrated that the Prophet Muhammad said: “Shall I not tell you of a borrowed billy goat.” They said: “Yes, O Messenger of God!” He then said: He is Muhallil (the person who marries a divorced women with intention to divorce her so that she become permissible for her first husband). May curse the Muhallil (temporary husband) and the Muhallal lahu (first husband)” – Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith No. 1936
The verses of the Holy Quran which have been mentioned earlier in this blog post have been misinterpreted by some greedy people more specifically some greedy ulemas (Islamic schoolers) to get benefited out of it, as a result, the malpractice of Nikah Halala came into existence in practice.
If the practice of Nikah Halala did have Quranic sanction, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) would have never condemned the same by saying,
“Allah’s curse is on the one who makes a contract or agreement for Halala and “Allah has cursed the muhallil (person who marries a woman and divorces her so that she can go back to her first husband) and the muhallal lahu (first husband)”.
The Prophet and his companions would have never called the temporary husband “a borrowed billy-goat” if the practice of Nikah Halala was legally valid.
The truth is that the prophet and all the companions of the prophet condemned this evil practice, There is a statement from Hazrat Uthman, who was the third Caliph of Islam when one such case of nikah halala was brought to him, where a man has temporarily married a woman to do halala for her previous husband. Hazrat Uthman separated them away and declared that the woman cannot marry her first husband unless he marries someone else of her own liking, a marriage should be free from conditions. The same statement we found from the Holy Prophet that, a marriage with the intention/condition to divorce the wife is invalid.
The second Caliph of Islam, Hazrat Umar said, if someone asking for halala is brought to me I will kill both of them.
Imam Ahmed, one of the prominent scholars of Islam once was asked about a man who married a woman with the intention in his heart to make her permissible for her first husband, but the woman did not know about that. Imam Ahmed said that he is a muhallil, and if he intends to make her permissible to her husband, then he is cursed.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, we went through various statements from the prominent Islamic personalities like Uqbah bin Amir, Hazrat Uthman, Hazrat Umar, Imam Ahmed, etc. on the topic of Nikah Halala, and from these statements, it is clear that the practice which today we know by the name of ‘nikah halala’ was regarded as Zina (adultery) during the time of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as stated by Al-Haakim that, “they will still be adulterers, even if they remain for twenty years”.
