Fa-itha balaghna ajalahunna faamsikoohunna bimaAAroofin aw fariqoohunna bimaAAroofin waashhidoo thaway AAadlin minkum (surah Talaq: 2)

Tafseer Tafheem-ul-Quran by Syed Abu-al-A'la Maududi

(65:2) And when they reach the end of their term (of waiting), then either honourably retain them (in the bond of wedlock) or honourably part with them, *6 and call two persons of known probity as witnesses from among yourselves, *7 and (let these witnesses) give upright testimony for the sake of Allah. That is to what all those that believe in Allah and the Last Day are exhorted. *8 Allah will find a way out for him who fears Allah, *9

Fa izaa balaghna ajalahunna fa amsikoohunna bima`roofin aw faariqoohunna bima`roofinw wa ashhidoo zawai `adlim minkum wa aqeemush shahaadata lillaah; zaalikum yoo`azu bihee man kaana yu`minu billaahi wal yawmil aakhir; wa many yattaqil laaha yaj`al lahoo makhrajaa

*6) That is, "In case you have pronounced one or two revocable divorces, you should take a decision before the expiry of the waiting-period whether you would keep the wife in wedlock or send her away. If you decide to keep her, then you should keep her with honour and dignity and not with a view to torntenting and harassing her and getting another opportunity to prolong her waiting-period by divorcing her once again; and if you decide to part with her, then you should part with her gracefully, without indulging in any quarrel or vilification; if you still owe her the dower, or a part of it, pay it off, and give her something in addition also at her departure according to your means, as has been enjoined in Al-Baqarah: 241. (For further explanation, see E.N. 86 of Al-Ahzab).
*7) Ibn 'Abbas says that this implies calling to witness two men both at divorce and at reconciliation. (Ibn Jarir). Hadrat `Imran bin Husain was asked: "A man divorced his wife and then took her back, but he neither called anybody to witness pronouncement of the divorce nor resumption of the relation. " He replied: You pronounced the divorce against the Sunnah and you took your wife back against the Sunnah. You should call to witness men both at divorce and at resumption of relation, and you should not commit this mistake again. " (Abu Da'ud, Iba Majah). But the four Sunni Imams are agreed that to call men to witness the divorce and the resumption and separation is no condition for these acts to be valid, so that if there was no witness, neither divorce should take place nor resumtion should be valid nor separation. But this condition has been enjoined so that the parties may not deny any of the facts later and in case there was a dispute the matter might be settled easily and any suspicions and doubts might also be removed. This Command is just like the Command "Have witnesses in case of commercial transactions." (AI-Baqarat: 282). This does not mean that it is obligatory to have witnesses at business transations, .and if there was no witness, the transaction would be invalid; but this is a wise instruction which has been given to prevent disputes and it is good to follow it. Likewise, in the case of divorce and resumption also although a person's act and conduct would be legally valid even without the witnesses yet caution demands that whatever is done, it should be witnessed, simultaneously or later, by two just mut.
*8) These words clearly show that the instructions given above are in the nature of advice and not law. If a matt pronounces divorce against the approved method as explained above, or fails to reckon the waiting-period accurately. or expels the wife from the house without a good reason, or returns to her at the end of the waiting-period only to harass her, or sends her away after a quarrel, or fails to call the men to witness the divorce, reconciliation, or separation, if will not affect the legal effects of divorce or reconciliation or separation at all. However, his acting against Allah's advice would be a proof that his heart was devoid of the taste faith in Allah and the Last Day. That is why he adopted a course which a true believer would never adopt.
*9) The context itself shows that here "fearing Allah in whatever one does" means to pronounce divorce in accordance with the approved method taught by the Sunnah to reckon the waiting-period accurately, to avoid turning the wife out of the house, to take the wife back if one decides to keep her, at the expiry of the waiting-period with the intention of keeping her equitably and to send her away in a fait; manner if one decides to part with her, and to call two just men to witness the divorce, reconciliation or separation, as the case be. In respect of this, Allah says that whoever acts in fear of Him, He will open for him a way out of the difficulties This automatically gives the meaning That whoever does not fear Allah in these matters, will create for himself such complications and difficulties from which he will find no way out. A study of these words clearly shows that the view of those who hold that the irregular (bid i) form of divorce does not take place at all, and of those who regard a triple divorce pronounced at once or during the same period of purity as a single divorce, is not correct. For if an irregular form of divorce does not take place at alI, it does not create any complication from which one may have to find a way out; and if only a single divorce takes place when one has pronounced three divorces at once, then also there arises no need for a person to seek a way out of a difficulty or complication.