DIVINATION. Kahānah, or foretelling future events, is unlawful in Islām.
Muʿāwiyah ibn Ḥākim relates: “I said to the Prophet, ‘O Messenger of God, we used to do some things in the time of ignorance of which we are not sure now. For example, we used to consult diviners about future events?’ The Prophet said, ‘Now that you have embraced Islām you must not consult them.’ Then I said, ‘And we used to take bad omens?’ The Prophet said, ‘If from a bad omen you are thrown into perplexity, let it not hinder you from doing the work you had intended to do.’ Then I said, ‘And we used to draw lines on the ground?’ And the Prophet said, ‘There was one of the Prophets who used to draw lines on the ground, therefore if you can draw a line like him it is good, otherwise it is vain.’ ”
ʿĀyishah says, “the people asked the Prophet about diviners, whether they spoke true or not. And he said, ‘You must not believe anything they say.’ The people then said, ‘But, O Prophet! they sometimes tell what is true?’ The Prophet replied, ‘Because one of the genii steals away the truth and carries it into the diviner’s ear; and the diviners mix a hundred lies to one truth.’ ” [[MAGIC].]
DIVORCE. Arabic t̤alāq (طلاق). In its primitive sense the word t̤alāq means dismission, but in law it signifies a release from the marriage tie.
The Muḥammadan law of divorce is founded upon express injunctions contained in the Qurʾān, as well as in the Traditions, and its rules occupy a very large section in all Muḥammadan works on jurisprudence.
I. The teaching of the Qurʾān on the subject is as follows:—
“They who intend to abstain from their wives shall wait four months; but if they go back from their purpose, then verily God is Gracious, Merciful:
“And if they resolve on a divorce, then verily God is He who Heareth, Knoweth.
“The divorced shall wait the result, until they have had their courses thrice, nor ought they to conceal what God hath created in their wombs, if they believe in God and the last day; and it will be more just in their husbands to bring them back when in this state, if they desire what is right. And it is for the women to act as they (the husbands) act by them, in all fairness; but the men are a step above them. God is Mighty, Wise.