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:

My friend made a wish that if she gets married she will spend all her mehr on needy people,she tell this to her husband also, she got mehr in the shape of gold ornament,so she sold that & what ever money she got she spend half of that amount on needy people,and the rest half is with her , now after two yrs of marriage they both r going for legal khula . now my question is do she has to give back her mehr to her husband, even if he don`t ask for it.plz answer me thr mail & plz send me exaclty suited link. jazakalla khair, fe amnillah. 

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Answer:

Wife to return mehr in khula divorce

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 none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 229:

229 A divorce is only permissible twice: after that the parties should either hold together on equitable terms or separate with kindness. It is not lawful for you (men) to take back any of your gifts (from your wives) except when both parties fear that they would be unable to keep the limits ordained by Allah. If ye (judges) do indeed fear that they would be unable to keep the limits ordained by Allah there is no blame on either of them if she gives something for her freedom. These are the limits ordained by Allah; so do not transgress them. If any do transgress the limits ordained by Allah such persons wrong (themselves as well as others).

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 7.197 Narrated by Ibn Abbas

The wife of Thabit bin Qais came to the Prophet (saws) and said, "O Allah's Messenger (saws)! I do not blame Thabit for defects in his character or his religion, but I, being a Muslim, dislike to behave in un-Islamic manner (if I remain with him)." On that Allah's Messenger (saws) said (to her), "Will you give back the garden which your husband has given you (as Mehr)?" She said, "Yes." Then the Prophet (saws) said to Thabit, "O Thabit! Accept your garden, and divorce her once."

If it is the husband who initiated the divorce, it is unlawful for the husband to demand that the wife return anything of the ‘mehr’ or the ‘gifts’ he might have give to her during their marriage.

But if it is the wife who initiated the divorce through a ‘khula’, the husband is well within his rights to demand that the ‘mehr’ he paid his wife in the marriage be returned back to him. But if the husband, of his own free will, chooses not the demand that his wife return the ‘mehr’ back to him at the conclusion of ‘khula’, he is well within his rights to do so.

Under normal conditions, when the wife initiates a ‘khula’ divorce in a Shariah Court of Law, the Shariah Court Judge will ask the wife if she is willing to return the ‘mehr’ paid to her by her husband in exchange for her freedom.

If for any reason neither the Shariah Court Judge nor her husband demanded that the wife return the ‘mehr’ at the conclusion of the ‘khula’, and the wife wishes to satisfy herself completely regarding the return of her ‘mehr’, she is well within her rights to offer her husband the ‘mehr’ amount, and the husband is well within his rights to accept it or forgive it.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan