Divorce Section · 22 – When a slave man and woman attain their freedom, does the woman have the right to choose a husband?
Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated:
She wished to manumit two slave spouses.
Qasim said: I asked the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) about the ruling regarding manumitting two slaves at once. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) ordered that the male should be freed before the female. Nasr said: Abu Ali al-Hanafi reported to me from Ubaydullah. [195]
EXPLANATION
If the female slave is manumitted before the male, the marriage is dissolved. This is because a free woman would have entered into the marriage contract of a slave. However, a slave girl can be found in the marriage contract of a free man.
It is narrated from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) that:
During the era of prosperity [early Islam], a person came and embraced Islam. Afterwards, his wife also came and embraced Islam. The man said, “O Messenger of Allah! My wife became Muslim after me.” So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings upon him) returned her to him.
According to a narration from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), he said:
In the era of prosperity, a married woman became Muslim. She then remarried. Her former husband came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings upon him) and said, “O Messenger of Allah, I had become Muslim. My wife knew that I had become Muslim.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings upon him) divorced her from her new husband and returned her to her former husband.
**Explanation:**
According to the honorable hadith, if a woman becomes Muslim while married, and she remarries knowing that her husband has become Muslim, then the new marriage is invalid. That woman becomes Muslim, but if Islam is offered to the man and he does not accept it, the woman is divorced from him. Because a Muslim cannot marry in the marriage of a disbeliever.
What is understood from the honorable hadith is that the woman’s statement regarding her separation from her husband is not valid. If a man and a woman become Muslim in the land of Islam, their marriage remains intact.
If a man becomes Muslim, Islam is offered to the woman; if a woman becomes Muslim, Islam is offered to the man. If they do not accept it, then they are separated.