| Answer: The
divorce verses of the OT (Old Testament) read as follows:
If a man
marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something
indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives to her and
sends her from his house, and after she leaves his house, she becomes the wife
of another man, and her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate
of divorce, gives to her and sends her from his house, or if he dies, then the
first husband who divorced her is not allowed to marry her again after she had
been defiled. That would be detestable in the eyes of the Lord. Do not bring sin
upon the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. (Deuteronomy,
24:1-4)
Some of the
contrasting points regarding divorce between the OT and the Qur’ān are:
i. According
to the OT, a husband can seemingly divorce his wife only on the grounds of
indecency.
The Qur’ān, on the contrary does not impose such a condition.
ii. The
divorce sentence according to OT must be in written form (certificate of
divorce), while the Qur’ān does not impose this condition. Divorce sentences
pronounced orally are also acceptable.
iii.
Contrary to the Qur’ān, the OT does not allow re-marriage between a former
husband and wife, if after divorce, the wife is married to some other person and
this second husband dies or divorces her.
iv. The OT also does not allow a
husband to exercise his right of a revocable divorce twice in the course of a
marriage, as the Qur’ān does. He can only exercise it once.
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