Islamic Fiqh > Marriage and family > Talak (repudiation) > The pillars of talaq and the one who divorces
Updated on 06 October 2026 at 10:50 PM
Who may repudiate, and what are the effects of a repudiation pronounced by a husband suffering from a terminal illness? The first pillar of talak, the one who repudiates, carries conditions detailed by the schools: being a husband, having reached puberty, being of sound mind, being a Muslim, being neither coerced nor angry. The text examines in detail the case of the discriminating child, the ma'tuh of impaired judgment, the prodigal (safih), the disbeliever, the unconscious man, the mubrasm and the jester, before turning to inheritance between spouses when the repudiation occurs during a fatal illness: revocable or irrevocable repudiation, death during or after the idda (waiting period), the wife's request for repudiation, and remarriage. Each school position is reported with its Quranic and prophetic evidences and its classical references.