Table and bed separation has nothing to do with Islamic divorce
18-12-2014 | IslamWeb
Question:
The question is , if someone lives in a non muslim country where there are two types of divorces can be pronounced. Divorce and bed and board divorce. After divorce , u can legally get married again, but after bed and separation should not get married legally again. In the law , table and bed separation means that people no longer live together , share together nothing , so do not eat together, not sleeping together no financial responsibility for each other. These two types of divorces are pronounced by the judge.and after bed and table divorce u boht have a boy friend or girl friend is no problem and in both of divoce the judge use the word divorce. These are both pronounced separation by the court , just with another name , divorce and bed and board divorce. If a muslim woman in Holland divorce from bed and board, is that in Islam as Talaq or she must still apply for divorce ? The answer I get this, it is from the Quran and Suna ? If I trade from your answer is that enough for me? Have I done my duty I hope to hear from u soon. If u have any question About this please contact on my mobile or my email. This is very important to me. With kindly regards,
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
A divorce issued by civil courts which judge according to man-made laws has no legal effect in Islam even if the judge pronounced the divorce. The Fatwa of the Assembly of Muslim Jurists in America (AMJA) reads, “If a husband divorces his wife according to the Sharee'ah (Islamic religious law), it is permissible to document it before courts run by man-made laws, but having recourse to non-Islamic courts in order to terminate the marriage according to the man-made laws does not result by itself in the end of the marriage according to the Islamic religious law.”
Therefore, the marriage bond is still intact and the divorce does not take effect according to the Sharee'ah even if a full divorce has been issued by that non-Islamic court. The spouses are still married in Islam and each is entitled to his or her due rights prescribed by Sharee'ah. It is impermissible for Muslims to refer their cases and disputes to non-Islamic courts that are run by man-made laws except for a necessity.
If Muslims were in real need for referring their disputes to an entity, they should refer them to those concerned with handling Muslims’ affairs such as Islamic Centers.
The husband has the right to issue divorce. If he divorces his wife, divorce takes effect and the legal consequences entailed by divorce become effective depending on the type of divorce issued by the husband. We have explained the different types of divorce in Fatwa 82541.
As for the “table and bed separation” alone, it is not considered a valid divorce in Sharee'ah, no matter how long it lasts as highlighted in Fatwa 89825.
It is impermissible for a Muslim woman to have a boyfriend; this is strictly prohibited under any circumstances. The sin is even graver if she does so while still married. Please refer to Fatwa 81356 about the prohibition of relationships outside marriage.
What we mentioned above is the conclusion that Muslim scholars have reached after careful study of the Islamic prescriptions and the objectives of the Islamic religion derived from the Quran and Sunnah. Allaah, The Exalted, has enjoined lay Muslims to follow the legal opinions of competent scholars; Allaah, The Exalted, says (what means): {So, ask the people of the message if you do not know.} [Quran 16:43]
Hence, when the Muslim consults a scholar whom he trusts and follows his scholarly opinion, he has done what is required of him and has cleared himself of liability.
Allaah Knows best.