The Divorce Decree for an Addict Intoxicated as Result of Opium Consumption

The divorce decree for an intoxicated individual, who has lost will, sensibility, and consciousness, has always been a matter of debate among Islamic jurists. The divorce decree for intoxication because of wine drinking is an appropriate analogy for the divorce decree for an addict that is intoxicated as a result of opium consumption. There is consensus among the jurists that non-volitional intoxication does not validate the divorce decree; however, there is disagreement about the divorce verdict for volitional intoxication. A group of the Companions of the Prophet Muhammad, their successors, major Ḥanafī and Shāfiʿī scholars, jurists like Qasim, Tawus, Rabia, Lais, Isḥāq, Abu Thawr, Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Qayyim, Shawkani, and most of the contemporary Sunni  and Jaʿfari jurists have invalidated volitional intoxication divorce decree. In the present study, which has been conducted based on descriptive-analytical method, while there will be a comparison between “the divorce decree for an addict intoxicated due to opium consumption” and “divorce decree due to volitional intoxication,” the opinions of the proponents and opponents of the above-mentioned issue will be analyzed. Finally, it will be argued that the reasoning of the opponents of volitional intoxication divorce decree is stronger in maintaining that a volitional intoxicated individual lacks the ability to utter the words solemnizing the divorce or comprehend its meaning, and therefore, that individual is regarded as demented. In addition, as the decrees based on dementia cases are not diversified according to the difference in their causes, the validity of divorce due to volitional intoxication is not established. Consequently, the decree for non-establishment of the divorce that is resulted from opium intoxication is regarded as the dominant viewpoint.