She said: I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say: "There is no divorce in a state of 'ighlaq (coercion/distress)." Narrated by Abu Dawud, and al-Athram. Abu Ubayd and al-Qutaybi said: Its meaning is: in [a state of] coercion. Abu Bakr said: I asked Ibn Durayd and Abu Tahir the grammarians, and they said: It refers to coercion; because when one is coerced, his judgment is shut off (in-ghalaqa) upon him. Included in this meaning is the person suffering from pleurisy (mubarsam) by consensus; and because it is a statement which he was compelled to make without right, so it is not binding upon him. A legal ruling, like the word of disbelief if one is coerced into it.

Section: If the coercion is with justification, such as the coercion by the judge who acts as guardian for divorce after the waiting period [for the ila' vow] if he does not return to her, or his coercion of the two men between whom two guardians performed the marriage contract, and it is not known which of them was first, then the divorce takes effect [in the case of the two men]. This is because it is a statement which he was compelled to make with justification, so it is valid, like the conversion to Islam of an apostate if he is coerced into it. And because the only reason his coercion into divorce was permitted was so that his divorce would take effect, so if it did not take effect, the purpose would not be achieved.

1256 - Issue: He said: "And he is not considered coerced until he is afflicted with some form of torture, such as beating, strangulation, squeezing the leg, and the like; and a threat does not constitute coercion."

As for when he is afflicted with some form of torture, such as beating, strangulation, squeezing, imprisonment, or holding [his head] underwater along with a threat, then it is coercion without dispute, due to what was narrated that the polytheists seized Ammar and compelled him toward polytheism, so he gave them what they wanted. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, came to him while he was weeping, and he began to wipe the tears from his eyes and said: "The polytheists took you, held you underwater, and commanded you to associate partners with Allah, and you did it. If they take you again, then do that to them." Narrated by Abu Hafs with his chain of narration. Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "A man is not trustworthy over himself if you starve him, beat him, or bind him." This implies the existence of an action through which coercion occurs. As for a threat alone, there are two narrations from Ahmad regarding it; one of them is that it is not coercion, because what the Sharia has provided a dispensation for is what was mentioned in the hadith of Ammar, and in it [it says]: "They took you and held you underwater." Thus, the ruling is not established except in that which is like it. The second narration is that a threat alone is coercion. He said in the narration of Ibn Mansur: The limit of coercion is when he fears death or severe beating. This is the opinion of the majority of jurists, and it is the view of Abu Hanifa and al-Shafi'i; because coercion cannot exist except by threat, for the punishment that has already occurred cannot be averted by performing what he was coerced into, nor does one fear its occurrence. Rather, he is permitted to do what he was coerced into to avert the punishment he is being threatened with in the future, and it is the same in both cases. Furthermore, when he threatens him with death and he knows that he will kill him, and he does not permit him the action, it leads to his killing and throwing himself into destruction, and the establishment of the dispensation of coercion does not provide anything, because if he divorces in this state, his divorce takes effect, and the coercer achieves his goal, and the harm befalls the coerced. The establishment of coercion for one who was afflicted with some form of torture does not negate its establishment for another. It has been narrated from Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, regarding the man who hung down to gather honey, and his wife stood on the rope and said: "Divorce me three times, or I will cut it." He reminded her of Allah and Islam, but she said: "You will do it, or I will do it." So he divorced her three times, and he returned her to him. Narrated by Sa'id with his chain of narration. This was a threat.