Title: Why does the Qur'an not give Directives for Delivering Divorce as it does for Loan Documentation? Question: I want to ask one question only: God has given instructions to write the contract if there is a case of lending or borrowing money ( Baqarah ). But there is a very important matter which has been left without care i.e. Divorce. One can easily give divorce by simply delivering these words. And there is no consideration of anger and emotions. So, why is it so? Why is there no instruction in Qur'an to give divorce in writing or with some care. Answer: In my opinion, the reason for not prescribing the preparation of a document at the time of delivering or pronouncing divorce - in contrast to the prescription of preparing a document at the time of making a loan or other deferred transactions - relates primarily to the factor of emotions that may be involved at the time of the pronouncement of divorce. Unlike the mental state of a person taking a loan, for instance, a husband at the time of pronouncing divorce to his wife may not be in his normal state of mind. It is precisely for this reason that the Shari`ah has prescribed a significant delay in making the divorce effective upon the husband and the wife, even after its pronouncement and has kept the doors of reconciliation between the two open during this time. It may, however, be of interest to note that at the end of the waiting period prescribed for the wife, when the husband is required to take a final decision regarding whether or not he would like to carryout his initial intent of separating from his wife or not - that is the time when divorce is actually going to become effective - the Qur'an has, in fact, advised the husband to declare his final decision in the presence of two witnesses, which is not much different from the prescription of the Qur'an relating to deferred transactions. It should be clear from the foregoing explanation that the Qur'an, in fact, wants to keep the initial declaration of intent (in case of divorce) informal and between the husband the wife only, while, on the contrary, it wants to give the final decision taken by the husband a more formal and legal status. I hope this would answer your question. Regards,