The Impact of Divorce on Halving the Marriage Portion in Case of Discharging (Ibra’) and Granting (Hibah) in Islamic Jurisprudence and Iranian Law

Halving the marriage portion in the event of divorce before sexual intercourse is one of the important jurisprudential decrees also reflected in Article 1092 of the Iranian Civil Code. A question arises here: if the wife discharges her husband of the marriage portion or grants it to him before the divorce, would she have the obligation of returning the substitute for half of the marriage portion? This descriptive-analytic study has examined the viewpoints of Imami jurisprudence, Sunni jurisprudence, and Iranian law with regard to the abovementioned issue. The results of the research indicate that according to the traditions and other proofs in Imami jurisprudence that the granting and discharging made by the wife have led to her enforcement of marriage portion and consequently, in case of divorce before sexual intercourse, she is obliged to return the substitute for half of the marriage portion to her husband. Hanbali denomination agrees to the mentioned idea but Maliki denomination does not accept that obligation. Each of the Hanafi and Shafi‘i schools, with distinguishing between different cases, accept the above said in some cases and reject it in others. According to the Iranian law, despite the disagreements, dividing marriage portion into halves, in the above said case, is admissible; however, under the Iranian Constitution and some laws, including the Family Protection Act, the religious minorities are subject to their religion in this regard.