OCTOBER 8 — Actress Nur Fazura Shariffuddin and actor Abdul Fattah Mohd Amin have officially divorced, ending their seven-year marriage.

Fattah, 34, sealed the divorce with talak satu (first pronouncement) against Fazura, 41, whose full name is Nur Fazura Sharifuddin, before Syarie Judge Abdul Malik Soleh at the Petaling Lower Syariah Court, Subang Bestari on Monday (October 7).

Talak or Talaq is the Arabic word for divorce. The word itself means "freeing or undoing the knot”. Talaq signifies the dissolution of marriage, or the annulment of its legality by the pronouncement of certain words.

In other words, to seal a divorce with a talaq means to dissolve a marriage under Islamic law by way of verbal expression by the husband to the wife according to Hukum Syara’.

Under the Federal Family Law Act (Act) and the States’ Islamic Family Law Enactments (Enactments), Hukum Syara’ means Islamic law according to the Mazhab (School) Shafie, or according to one of the Mazhab Maliki, Hanafi or Hanbali [See, for example, Section 2(1) Islamic Family Law (Federal Territories) Act 1984 (Act 303)].

The Act and Enactments make provisions that set out the procedure for divorce by talaq.

A husband or wife who desires divorce must file an application for divorce to the court in the prescribed form accompanied by a statutory declaration, affidavit or form prescribed in the statutes as required by the respective Federal Act or State enactments.

The statutory declaration which accompanies an application for divorce must contain:

(1) particulars of the marriage and the names, ages and sex of the children, if any, of the marriage;

(2) particulars of the facts giving the court jurisdiction;

(3) particulars of any previous matrimonial proceedings between the parties, including the place of those proceedings;

(4) a statement setting out the reasons for the divorce;

(5) a statement as to whether any, and if so, what steps have been taken to effect reconciliation;

(6) the terms of any agreement regarding maintenance and habitation of the wife and children of the marriage, if any, the care and custody of the children of the marriage, if any, the division of any assets acquired through the joint effort of the parties, if any, or where no such agreement has been reached, the applicant’s proposals regarding those matters; and

(7) particulars of the order sought.

Upon receiving an application for divorce, the court must cause a summons to be served on the other party together with a copy of the application and the statutory declaration made by the applicant, and the summons will direct the other party to appear before the court so as to enable it to inquire whether or not the other party consents to the divorce.

Where upon receipt of a summons, the other party appears before the court and consents to the divorce and the court is satisfied after due inquiry and investigation that the marriage has irretrievably broken down, the court must advise the husband to pronounce one talaq before the court.

The court must record the fact of the pronouncement of one talaq and send a certified copy of the record to the appropriate Registrar and to the Chief Registrar for registration. [See, for example, Section 47(1)-(4) Islamic Family Law (Federal Territories) Act 1984]

It is an elaborate process — for good reasons. In Islam, divorce is permissible but the most detestable act to Allah.

It was narrated by Abdullah ibn Umar that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Of all the lawful acts the most detestable to Allah is divorce.” (Sunan Abu Daud, Book 6, Number 2173)

The Quran enjoins Muslim husbands to divorce their wives bi ihsan — that is, with kindness or kindly or in a kind way. [See, for example, Surah al-Baqarah (Chapter 2), verse 229]

So —

(1) when a husband consents to divorce his wife by talaq; and

(2) the court is satisfied after due inquiry and investigation that the marriage has irretrievably broken down; and

(3) the husband pronounces one talaq before the court after having been advised by the court to do so;

the talaq is in keeping with the Quranic enjoinment that the Muslim husband divorces his wife bi ihsan.

Why spill the beans on the reasons for the divorce after talaq has been pronounced, leading to a spat in public over the divorce?

Don’t spat in public over a matter that is most detestable to Allah.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.