I was watching a drama, This is life, on the television. The story was about a tragic married couple and their struggle to overcome the terrible consequence of a sudden decision. They argued bitterly over an issue and the husband in his anger divorced his wife.

After a few days they both felt that they could not live without each other. On inquiring from a faqih, a religious scholar in Islamic jurisprudence, they learned that the public proclamation of the phrase I divorce you, three times by the husband, enacted the divorce. Now if they want to become husband and wife again, the wife, according to the commandment in the Qu’ran, must marry another man, have marital relations, and then be divorced by the second husband (Surah 2:230). She could then remarry her first husband.

The Torah, Psalms, the books of the Prophets and the Gospel also have instructions on this subject. In certain circumstances, God allowed people to use the right of divorce, though he hated it (Malachi 2:16). According to the Torah, divorce is only valid when it is in writing (Deuteronomy 24:1-4).

Some people asked Jesus about the relationship between wife and husband, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?” He replied, “ Haven’t you read that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female’, and said ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” “Why then”, they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?” Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard, but it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery” (Matthew 19: 3-9).

So we find in the scriptures such instruction: “A wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife” (1 Corinthians 7:10-11).

Jesus and his disciples taught many other things also which can be found in the New Testament section of the Bible. If you would like a copy in the English language, please contact us.