Marriage aims at a permanent relationship and usually couples have every intention to make it a lasting success. Religion urges couples to do their best and to offer all possible sacrifices to maintain the bond of marriage.

But unfortunately, for many reasons, a couple may feel that their marriage has failed and they cannot continue living together anymore. Sometimes, this is because of financial problems or because of the misbehaviour or mistreatment of one of the partners, or both of them; sometimes because of marital infidelity from one side or both sides. Sometimes the marriage breaks down because of the lack of harmony between the characters of the couple or because of different faiths and cultures. Sometimes the marriage fails because of the negative interference and involvement of third parties like relatives or bad friends, or other matters like pornography.

How can a marriage continue with a partner who is an alcoholic, a gambler or a drug addict? How can a marriage succeed with a lazy man who does not want to work and provide for the family? How can a man or a woman live with a partner who does not observe his/her marital duties?

When there is a dispute between the husband and wife they should try all attempts to reconcile. If they fail to reach an agreement on their own, they can seek the help of relatives, friends, religious leaders and social experts. When all attempts are exhausted and prove fruitless, the couple can resort to divorce.

There should be justified reasons for divorce. Seeking divorce unjustly is a sin according to Islam.

In Islam, divorce can be applied twice, after which the couple can re-unite. After the divorce, there is a waiting period of three months during which the couple gets enough chance to review their attitude and decisions. If, during that period, they decide to re-unite, they are permitted to do so at any time.

Even after the expiry of the waiting period, they can re-marry if they so desire but they have to seek a new marriage contract. If the couple or one of them insists on implementing the divorce after the expiry of the waiting period, they are both free to marry whom they want.

Islam does not encourage divorce and legislates all the precautions to avoid it. Islam permits divorce because it is a social necessity and a human right both for the wife and the husband. It is a matter of personal freedom. Just as people are free to unite in marriage, they should be free to separate by divorce.

Divorce should not be the normal course but it should remain an exception. It is permitted because it is the lesser evil and the lesser harm. Divorce does not always mean breaking up of the family but it could be a way to build a new solid family instead of the broken one. It gives the failed couples a chance to try again and live happily. Of course the children are the victims of divorce but they are more victimized without divorce because they will be forced to live in the daily hell of the quarrels of their parents.

The absence of a divorce law motivates some people to resort to cohabitation, which is just another word for adultery, and abstain from marriage because they are afraid that if the marriage failed, then there is no way out. Certainly, the lack of a divorce law pushes separated couples to commit adultery to satisfy their natural sexual desires. It leads to the birth of thousands of illegitimate children who will be without any fault of their own deprived from an honourable and dignified birth.

The absence of divorce does not help the welfare of the family, rather it creates more broken and illegitimate families, increases the sufferings of couples and children alike and causes the commission of more sins and the spread of permissiveness.

The high increase in the rates of divorce in the world is not the result of the existence of a divorce law; rather it is the outcome of the absence of God in our hearts and lives. It is the outcome of the absence of the sense of responsibility and sacrifice. It is the result of a prevailing culture of materialism, egoism and pleasure. It is the result of the permission of adultery and homosexuality. Unfortunately, certain people speak about the dangers of divorce but they refrain from speaking about adultery and odd sexual practices, which are more dangerous.

The law aims at serving and maintaining the interests of the people and not to complicate their lives. The law makers should legislate the laws which serve the welfare of the people, maintain their human rights and protect the family and morality.

I know that Jesus, peace be upon him, condemned divorce according to the New Testament. But I think that he is not condemning the justified divorce but the unjustified one. He restricted the permission to divorce because of the abuse of the divorce law by many Jews of his time who used to divorce their wives without justification. For me, this conception is clear when we read the statement:

“It has also been said: Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a writ of dismissal. But I say this to you: everyone who divorces his wife, except for the case of fornication, makes her an adulteress and anybody who marries a divorced woman commits adultery (Matthew 5: 31-32).

The Muslim community in Malta is in favour of the introduction of a divorce law, in order to solve the problems of separated couples, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, and maintain morality in our society.

Muhammad el Sadi is the Imam – Islamic Centre, Paola