سوال

I am looking for sharia guidance on below.My wife wanted to file a khula case in the court just because I had another nikah. This nikah was not hidden from anyone and it was discussed with wife in details.

My wife only claims that she cannot share my body to another women – rest there is no any objection between us. By the grace of Almighty Allah I am doing my best for all my family.

I am declaring here that I never ever wish & accept to leave her or to divorce her. Plus I will never accept any decree from any court or union council.

Please advise the sharia guidance if she got decree by one side case on the court, will this break our nikah ? will she claim as a divorce ?

Moreover please share advise for my wife so we can have peaceful life.

I am ready & willing to maintain justice between wife’s by any means and any necessity

اَلجَوَابْ بِاسْمِ مُلْہِمِ الصَّوَابْ

Khula(divorce initiated by the wife in exchange for compensation) is, in essence, a financial transaction. Just as other financial transactions require the mutual consent of both parties to be valid, khula also requires the mutual agreement of both spouses. Therefore, the husband’s consent and approval are essential for khula to take effect. If a court issues a unilateral decree of khula without the husband’s consent, it is not valid in Islamic law, and the wife remains in the nikah(marriage).

As for the claim that a judge may annul the marriage(faskh) without the husband’s consent, this authority exists only in cases where there is a valid legal ground for annulment, such as:

1.   The husband is permanently impotent.

2.   The husband is deliberately withholding financial maintenance (nafaqah) and refuses to grant divorce.

3.   The husband is missing (absent with unknown whereabouts) and no news of him is available.

4.   The husband is absent but not missing — his whereabouts are known, yet he neither comes to his wife, nor calls her to join him, nor provides financial maintenance.

5.   The husband is insane or behaves with such violence that living with him is expected to cause unbearable harm.

Apart from these valid grounds, mere dislike of the husband or the desire to exclude another wife from the marriage does not grant the judge authority to annul the marriage.

Accordingly, unless the husband (or his authorized representative) appears in court to sign the court-issued khula decree, or later verbally expresses consent to that decision, a unilateral khula order by the court is not valid in Islamic law, and the marriage remains intact.

In this matter, the wife should also consider that if her husband is fulfilling her rights properly and providing for her needs in a good manner, then taking such a step merely to keep him exclusively for herself is not permissible.

الدر المختار وحاشية ابن عابدين (3/ 440) دار الفكر-بيروت:

في التتارخانية وغيرها: مطلق لفظ الخلع محمول على الطلاق بعوض؛ حتى لو قال لغيره اخلع امرأتي فخلعها بلا عوض لا يصح (قوله: أو اختلعي إلخ) إذا قال لها اخلعي نفسك فهو على أربعة أوجه: إما أن يقول بكذا فخلعت يصح وإن لم يقل الزوج بعده: أجزت، أو قبلت على المختار؛ وإما أن يقول بمال ولم يقدره، أو بما شئت فقالت: خلعت نفسي بكذا، ففي ظاهر الرواية لا يتم الخلع ما لم يقبل بعده.

بدائع الصنائع : (315/4)

وأما ركنه فهو الإيجاب والقبول؛ لأنه عقد على الطلاق بعوض فلا تقع الفرقة، ولا يستحق العوض بدون القبول.

المبسوط  للسرخسي (6/ 173):

 (قال): والخلع جائز عند السلطان وغيره؛ لأنه عقد يعتمد التراضي كسائر العقود، وهو بمنزلة الطلاق بعوض، وللزوج ولاية إيقاع الطلاق، ولها ولاية التزام العوض، فلا معنى لاشتراط حضرة السلطان في هذا العقد.

الهداية في شرح بداية المبتدي (2/ 261) :

" وإذا تشاق الزوجان وخافا أن لا يقيما حدود الله فلا بأس بأن تفتدي نفسها منه بمال يخلعها به " لقوله تعالى: {فلا جناح عليهما فيما افتدت به} [البقرة: 229] " فإذا فعلا ذلك وقع بالخلع تطليقة بائنة ولزمها المال " لقوله عليه الصلاة والسلام: " الخلع تطليقة بائنة. "