The Mosaic law allowed divorce, while Christianity prohibited it. Divorce, permitted by legislation, was considered a detestable cruelty. Christianity came to teach people that the marriage contract is a sacred covenant with sanctity, and family ties should not be severed merely for whim, impulse, or self-gratification, in ways that exceed the laws established for the benefit and happiness of humanity. Thus, Christianity prohibited divorce, and that was the wisdom of the Christian era.
And then Islam came to affirm the sanctity of the marital contract, calling it a "solemn covenant," and to affirm the sanctity of marital life by making it a sign for contemplation regarding the holiness of the Creator who brought together the male and female spouses. This is no less important than the Christian indication of the value of this union, as it was reported from the Prophet (PBUH): "Gabriel kept advising me about women until I thought that they should not be divorced except for clear obscenity."
This statement of the Greatest Prophet shows us the wisdom of the legislation in the Christian era by prohibiting divorce except for the cause of adultery, as mentioned in the Gospel.
The legislation of divorce in Islam is nothing but an affirmation of the sanctity of life in a way that preserves the holiness of the law, should humanity resort to it as an inevitable necessity from which there is no escape.
And because the sanctity of marriage requires that the family be a cohesive structure, supporting one another with harmony, love, and compassion, if divorce were forbidden while discord and family collapse continued, dark clouds of gloom and distress would hang over the lives of the spouses. This affects the freedom of the human being for whom the laws were enacted. Thus, the sanctity of the marriage contract becomes a shackle on the neck of human freedom—freedom appropriate for noble souls, not the freedom of whim and desire. The sacred bond becomes a noose, and a restriction that does not benefit the preservation of the sanctity of marriage. This is what Islam observed, so it permitted divorce, as the Prophet (PBUH) said: "The most detestable of lawful things to God Almighty is divorce."
The Personal Status Law for the Druze community has enumerated the points that necessitate the issuance of a divorce decree as follows:
- Article 37: The marriage contract is only dissolved by divorce through the ruling of the sect’s judge.
- Article 38: A divorced woman is never lawful for her husband again after the issuance of the judge’s ruling of separation between them.
- Article 39: If it appears to the wife, regarding the defects of intercourse before or after marriage, that her husband is suffering from an illness that makes it impossible for her to live with him without harm, such as leprosy, vitiligo, syphilis, or the like, she may refer to the judge and request separation. If the illness is incurable, the judge shall rule for immediate separation. If there is hope for the illness to disappear, the judge shall postpone the separation for two years, provided that a temporary separation between the spouses is decided immediately. If the illness does not resolve during this period and the husband does not consent to divorce and the wife insists on her request, the judge shall rule for separation. As for disabilities such as blindness or lameness, they are not a cause for separation.
- Article 40: If the husband is suffering from impotence, the wife may request separation once it is medically proven that this impotence is incurable.
- Article 41: If the husband becomes insane after the marriage contract and the wife refers to the judge requesting separation, the judge shall postpone consideration of the request for a period of one year. If the insanity does not cease during this period and the wife insists, he shall rule for separation.
- Article 42: The spouses may rescind the marriage contract by mutual consent, and this rescission is completed by declaring it in the presence of two witnesses before the judge, who issues a ruling for it.
- Article 43: If the husband is convicted of the crime of adultery, the wife may request separation. If the wife is convicted of the crime of adultery and her husband divorces her for this cause, the deferred dowry is forfeited.
- Article 44: If the husband is sentenced to imprisonment for a period of ten years or more and has served five consecutive years of it, the wife may request separation at the end of this period.
- Article 45: If the husband disappears or is absent for three years and it is impossible to obtain maintenance from him, the judge shall rule for separation at the wife’s request.
However, if it is possible to obtain maintenance, her request shall not be granted unless five years have passed without interruption. If the present husband is ordered to pay maintenance and it is impossible to collect it from him for a period of two years, the wife may also request separation.
- Article 46: If a ruling is made to rescind a woman’s marriage due to the husband’s absence and she marries another man, then the first husband reappears, his appearance does not necessitate the rescission of the last marriage.
