Sayyiduna Thowbaan (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) narrates that Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) said, “Whichever woman asks for a divorce without a genuine need, the fragrance of Jannah will be haraam upon her.” (Sunan Tirmizi #1187)
Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) has explained that the facility of talaaq is the most abhorred of permissible actions in the sight of Allah Ta‘ala. (Sunan Abi Dawood #2178) Hence, this facility is meant to only be utilized as an absolute last resort, when all sincere attempts to reconcile have failed. It is for this reason that such a severe warning has been sounded in the above hadeeth for the woman who seeks a divorce without a genuine need.
Sadly, divorce is something which is today considered trivial by many people. As a result, talaaq, or even worse – triple talaaq – is issued without even batting an eyelid! Similarly, some women demand talaaq from their husbands due to a petty argument or simple misunderstanding. In most cases, the root cause of the problem is pride. Due to pride and arrogance, neither spouse – even if they know that they are in the wrong – is willing to back down and make peace. Instead, they stubbornly persist in trying to ‘make their point’, until the marriage is lead to the ‘breaking-point’.
In the heat of the moment, when the mind is clouded with anger and tempers are flaring, a person begins to think that divorce will solve their problems. When talaaq is requested and issued on the spur of the moment, then in most cases, the divorced couple now begin to regret as they realize the implications and consequences of their action – especially in the case of triple talaaq.
After pondering over the above hadeeth, we will arrive at the conclusion that the option of talaaq should never even cross our minds, unless we are in extremely dire circumstances.