Ighathat al-Lahfan fi Hukm Talaq al-Ghadban
- Author died
- 751 AH
- Editions
- tahqiq al-Hafyan · t Afifi · +1
Ighathat al-Lahfan fi Hukm Talaq al-Ghadban (Relief of the Distressed Regarding the Ruling on Divorce Pronounced in Anger) is a specialized legal treatise by the Hanbali jurist Ibn al-Qayyim (691–751 AH / 1292–1350 CE) examining the legal validity of divorce pronounced under the influence of anger .
Title and Background
The work is commonly referred to among scholars as al-Ighathah al-Sughra ("The Lesser Relief") to distinguish it from Ibn al-Qayyim's extensive work Ighathat al-Lahfan min Masayid al-Shaytan (al-Ighathah al-Kubra) . Ibn al-Qayyim himself cited the treatise in his spiritual work Madarij al-Salikin under the title Ighathat al-Lahfan fi Talaq al-Ghadban, noting that he had thoroughly addressed the subject of anger and divorce therein . The book was also recorded by Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali in his biographical history Shadharat al-Dhahab .
Structure and Content
The treatise focuses primarily on the issue of divorce pronounced in anger (talaq al-ghadban), while also addressing related issues such as divorce under intoxication, coercion, obsessive doubts, or slips of the tongue . Ibn al-Qayyim analyzes the nature of anger, describing it as an affliction of the heart comparable to a bodily fever .
To delineate the point of scholarly dispute, the author divides anger into three categories:
- Initial or mild anger (mabadi' al-ghadab): where a person's reason and understanding remain unaffected, allowing them to comprehend and intend what they say; divorce in this state takes effect by scholarly consensus .
- Extreme anger (nihayat al-ghadab): where anger completely overwhelms the intellect and awareness, rendering the speaker analogous to an insane or unconscious person; divorce in this state is invalid by consensus .
- Intermediate intense anger (al-martabah al-mutawassitah): where anger surpasses initial agitation without reaching total madness, yet intensifies enough to impel the individual to speak without deliberate intent or composure, followed by immediate regret upon calming down .
Ibn al-Qayyim identifies this third category as the crux of the legal disagreement and argues that divorce pronounced under such intense emotional pressure does not take effect .
Methodology and Arguments
Ibn al-Qayyim presents twenty-five distinct lines of reasoning and evidence drawn from the Quran, the Sunnah, statements of the Companions, legal maxims, and systematic juristic deduction .
He opens his argument with the Prophetic hadith: «لَا طَلَاقَ، وَلَا عَتَاقَ فِي إِغْلَاقٍ» ("There is no divorce and no emancipation in a state of ighlaq"), establishing from early authorities that ighlaq denotes the closure of sound intent and judgment caused by intense anger or duress . Among his scriptural proofs, he cites the Quranic account of Moses casting down the Tablets and seizing his brother Aaron in anger without incurring divine blame, demonstrating that actions driven by overpowering anger lack valid voluntary intent . He maintains that the non-occurrence of divorce in such circumstances is consistent with general juristic principles that condition legal culpability on sound intention and genuine volition .
Commentaries and Editions
The treatise has been published in several printed editions. Notable printings include editions featuring marginal annotations (hashiyah) by Muhammad Jamal al-Din al-Qasimi (d. 1332 AH) and Muhammad ibn Mani' al-Najdi (d. 1385 AH) . It was also edited by Muhammad 'Afifi al-Misri and later prepared with hadith verification by 'Umar Sulayman al-Hafyan .
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