Ismāʿīl al-Qādī held that divorce in return for compensation is permissible, and that a husband may lawfully keep what he receives from his wife in return for divorcing her, when marital defiance and aversion are on her part and both spouses share the fear that they will not uphold Allah’s limits. This is based on the words of Allah, Almighty and Majestic:

“If you fear that they cannot uphold Allah’s limits, there is no blame upon either of them concerning the compensation she gives to secure her release.” [al-Baqarah: 229]

His position does not contradict what we have related from Mālik and his companions: that a husband may not obtain compensation for divorce—even if his wife dislikes him, defies him, and harms him—by parting with her in return for some of her property. This is because he understood fear in its proper sense, permitting compensation before what they feared actually occurs, lest it occur. Thus, if each spouse dislikes the other, and he fears that, if he keeps her, his aversion to her will prevent him from upholding Allah’s limits in his treatment of her, while she fears that she will not fulfil his rights over her, and she therefore obtains a divorce in return for compensation for fear of sin and blame, then she has willingly given him her property in return for divorce, since he has not compelled her to do so by subjecting her to pressure.

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As for Ibn Bukayr, he understood the fear mentioned in the verse to mean knowledge. However, he held that its address is directed only to those in authority, just as in the verse concerning arbitration. He said: “The sense is: If you, those in authority, fear that the spouses will not uphold Allah’s limits in their dealings with one another, there is no blame upon you for taking some of her property and separating them.”

The disagreement between him and Ibn Bukayr therefore concerns only the interpretation of the verse regarding the circumstances in which divorce in return for compensation is permissible and those in which it is not. There is no disagreement [within the school] that a husband may not take anything from his wife in return for divorcing her unless the marital defiance comes from her and he has caused her no harm in the matter. He may not respond to her defiance by harming her and making life difficult for her until she pays to secure her release, for Allah, Almighty and Majestic, says:

“Do not make difficulties for them in order to take back some of what you have given them.” [al-Nisā’: 19]

Rather, he may admonish her. If she takes heed, well and good; otherwise,