Khula divorce
Mu' meneen
Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa
Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be
upon all of you)
One of our
brothers/sisters has asked this question:
As-Salaamu
Alaikum. I posed
a question that was given the number 6055 to which a response is still pending.
Please, I forgot to request that my question be provided the status of personal
and confidential and that you please respond only to my email address. I do not
want my question posted.
I realize that Allah (SWT) knows best, I want to make sure that my response is
in proper conduct with Islamic Law. My husband tells me I have no right to
divorce him and that my divorce would be invalid and he will not leave my home
unless I "throw" and his "stuff out." My husband also said
that if I divorce him if I should remarry later on my marriage would be invalid
and that he would have the right to kill me because of adultery.
Thank you for your assistance.
(There may be some
grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not
change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our
readers for circulation in confidentiality.)
Answer:
In the
name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness.
Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray,
none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no
person, no grave, no prophet, no imam,
no dai,
nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that
Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
Beloved
sister in Islam, we assure you that we never ever disclose or share, for any
reason whatsoever, the names and addresses of the questioners on our forum, for
our mission in providing this humble service is for one reason, and one reason
only: to earn the Pleasure of Allah Subhanah.
The only
reason we circulate the questions posted in absolute anonymity, is so that some
other brother or sister who is faced with a similar dilemma or has a similar
query will be able to seek true guidance in light of the Quran
and Sunnah.
We will
abide by your instructions and will not post your question on the forum; but we
humbly request you to reconsider your position; for maybe, just maybe, there
might be others who are faced with a similar situation as yours; and because of
your question, they might be able to gain the knowledge of the Truth in light
of the Quran and Sunnah.
Q-1: My husband tells me I have no
right to divorce him and that my divorce would be invalid and he will not leave
my home unless I "throw" and his "stuff out."
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 229:Divorce may be pronounced twice; then either keep the wife with honor, or let her leave gracefully. And it is not lawful for you to take back
anything out of what you have given them.
There is however, an exception to
this; if you fear that they might not be
able to keep within the limits imposed by Allah, there is no harm if both agree mutually
that the wife should obtain divorce by giving something as compensation to the
husband (only when she initiates the divorce). These are the bounds set by Allah; therefore, do not violate them, for those who violate the bounds of Allah are
indeed the ‘dhalims’ (transgressors)!
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 231:And when you have divorced your wives and they are about to
complete their prescribed terms, then either
retain them gracefully or release them generously. It is transgression to retain them merely
for harassment. And whoever does that
indeed wrongs his own self! Do not play with Allah’s Commandments, and remember that
Allah has blessed you with a great favor.
He admonishes you to show due respect to the Book and the Wisdom He has
sent you. Fear Allah and know that He
is fully aware of everything.
When two
people who are married together cannot live together for any reason, Islam has
given a route where either of the two may initiate a divorce proceeding against
the other. If the woman initiates a divorce proceedings against her husband, it will be known
as a ‘khula’ in Islamic Law. This can be for a number of reasons, from not getting
along with the husband, to the husband
disappearing for a number of years, or
even impotency, etc. Whatever the
reason may be, the
wife will have to go to a Qadi or
The
husband has a right to demand that the ‘mehr’ he paid
to his wife at the time of marriage be returned back to him, or he may opt to
be generous and forgive all or part of it.
The
guidance of Allah Subhanah regarding divorce are very
clear; and three words or
characteristics should be employed when two people who were married to each
other, but for some reason the marriage
does not work out, and they want to
separate: 1. Honor,
2. Graceful, and 3. Generous.
These are the commands and boundaries Allah has set on the believers, and whoever
harasses or oppresses the partner will have a severe accounting in the Just
Court of Allah Subhanah.
Islam
absolutely discourages and considers it a sin when one of the parties harasses
the other in a divorce situation. The
husband is absolutely wrong when he says the wife does not have a right to
initiate a divorce, or she has to throw out his belongings from the house to
seek one! All she has to do is go to a
Q-2: My husband also said that if
I divorce him if I should remarry later on my marriage would be invalid and
that he would have the right to kill me because of adultery.
Once the Court announces the divorce, and the ‘iddah’
or waiting period of divorce is over; the woman is absolutely free to marry
anyone of her choice.
Even in
cases where a husband finds his wife committing adultery, he has absolutely no
right to kill her! The maximum he can do
in such a situation is divorce her.
Adultery cases in Islam can only be tried by a
The
threat of the husband to kill his wife if she remarries after her divorce is
absolutely baseless; and if he, Allah forbid, carries out his threat he will be
guilty of the heinous sin of murder; the prescribed punishment of which under
Islamic Law is death in this world, and the everlasting fire of Hell in the
Hereafter!
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisaa verse 93:If a man kills a believer intentionally his recompense is Hell to
abide therein (for ever): and the Wrath and the Curse of Allah are upon him,
and a dreadful penalty is prepared for him.
Whatever
written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance,
and whatever of error is of me. Allah
Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.
Your Brother in Islam,
Wister