When a man or woman apostatizes from Islam, then an immediate dissolution of the marriage takes place, whether the apostasy be of the man or of the woman, without a judicial decree. If both husband and wife apostatize at the same time, their marriage bond remains; and if at any future time the parties again return to Islam, no remarriage is necessary to constitute them man and wife.
There is a form of divorce known as khula which is when a husband and wife disagreeing, or for any other cause, the wife on payment of a compensation or ransom to the husband, is permitted by law to obtain from him a release from the marriage tie.
Mubara’ah is a divorce which is effected by mutual release.
A Comparison.—When compared with the Mosaic law it will be seen that by the latter, divorce was only sanctioned when there was “some uncleanness” in the wife, and whilst in Islam a husband can take back his divorced wife, in the law of Moses it was not permitted. See Deut. xxiv., 1-4.
Iddah or Iddat.—This is the term of probation incumbent upon a woman in consequence of a dissolution of marriage, either by divorce or the death of her husband. After a divorce the period is three months, and after the death of her husband four months and ten days, both periods being enjoined by the Koran.
Effects of Divorce:
1. Sexual intercourse between the divorced persons becomes unlawful.
2. The wife is free to marry another husband after the completion of her iddah; or immediately if the marriage was never consummated.
3. The husband may complete his legal number of four wives without counting the divorced one, or may marry a woman who could not be lawfully joined with the divorced one, for example, her sister, after the completion of her iddah but not before.
4. If the marriage has been consummated before the divorce, the whole of the unpaid dower becomes immediately payable by the husband to the wife, and is enforceable like any other debt if the marriage had not been consummated and the amount of dower was specified in the contract, he is liable for half that amount; if none was specified, he must give the divorced wife a present suitable to her rank, or their value. But the wife has no right to anything if the divorce took place by her wish, or in consequence of any disqualifications on her side, as for instance, her apostasy.