Divorce and Khula Information

WOMEN GETTING DIVORCED THROUGH KHULA OR ASKING FOR TALAQ FROM HUSBAND

In India and Pakistan one of the biggest injustices against women is taking place. In Islam you have THREE chances to reconcile a marriage. In Indo-Pakistani culture you have only one chance and that’s it your divorced forever. So if you divorce in this culture once, your children are left without a mother and father family home forever. According to the Quran, it is 3 separate talaaq’s in Islam.

If he divorces you once then you are divorced unless you reconcile during the iddah period.

After the iddah period is over you can remarry someone else or just remain single.

If you are single and want to reconcile at anytime in your life as long as you still single of course you can get back together again. With a new contract and dowry.

Its best to get one Talaq, your still divorced but if things change and believe me they do as life goes (You never know). You still have the option to remarrying him one day. Not likely but leave the option open.

Please also see this useful website:

http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/index.php?page=fatwa&tab=1&vPart=233

HOW TO GET A KHULA ISLAMIC DIVORCE IN THE UK?

My advice to you is quite simple. A Khula in the UK can take a little while too but you will get it inshAllah. You should apply in the UK by post or fax. The fee is around £100.You can obtain a Khula ( Islamic Divorce ) from the Islamic Shariah Council. Their telephone number is   00 44 (0) 20 8925 0673 and website is www.islamic-shariah.org .

Ypu may need your Nikah Namah (Marriage certificate from Pakistan). Even a copy will do. If you do it will speed things up. Please call them and explain your circumstances and they will guide you through the procedure.I sincerely hope my advice to you was helpful. Please do not hesitate to contact us again should you need ANY advice at anytime.

Question:

A girl was forced into marriage by her parents and eventually she got married to this man whom she doesn't like at all. They have not had established any husband-wife relationship uptil now. From day one she told her husband that she doesn't want to live with him and wants divorce from him. She was not given a choice to say no this marriage. But that man is insisting that he would never give her talaaq and had fled to UK (he is UK based while girl is Pakistani). The man is a lawyer there and is determined that he will not give her divorce and will ruin her remaining life.

I want to know is this marriage was valid? If yes, what is the way out? How she can get khula from him?

Answer:

There are millions of women suffering daily throughout the world due to the backward culture in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and the Middle East etc which keeps women trapped in this way.

This man is doing the exact opposite of the Holy Quran:

“And when you divorce women and they reach their prescribed time, then either retain them in good fellowship or set them free with liberality, and do not retain them for injury, so that you exceed the limits, and whoever does this, he indeed is unjust to his own soul; and Do not take God's signs as a joke!, and remember the favor of Allah upon you, and that which He has revealed to you of the Book and the Wisdom, admonishing you thereby; and be careful (of your duty to) Allah, and know that Allah is the Knower of all things.”(Verse 2:231)

Firstly your marriage is not valid, i.e your Nikah has not met its conditions. A woman and man both have to agree and give full consent to marriage. If you did not want to marry him , it was a forced marriage which is haram in Islam.  Even silence is acceptance at time of Nikah, but that is normally misunderstood. Silence out out of being shy is acceptance , silence out of fear or force is not acceptance.

The following hadith of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) highlights your dilemma:

Khansa Bint Khidam said “My father married me to his nephew, and I did not like this match, so I complained to the Messenger of Allah (May Allah bless him and grant him peace). He said to me “accept what your father has arranged.” I said “I do not wish to accept what my father has arranged.”He said “then this marriage is invalid, go and marry whomever you wish.” I said “I have accepted what my father has arranged, but I wanted women to know that fathers have no right in their daughter’s matters (i.e. they have no right to force a marriage on them). (Fathul Bari Sharah Al Bukhari 9/194, Ibn Majah Kitabun Nikah 1/602)

Its usually very difficult , expensive and time consuming to get a Talaq or Khula in Pakistan. This is because the courts, the male mentality and mainly the wrong understanding of Islamic Shariah makes it extremely difficult for women to get their divorce. These ridiculous unIslamic laws are stacked against women. In Pakistani law the Khula can only be applied for under these conditions:

Judicial Divorce / Khula in Pakistani Law

Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939
Judicial khula may also be granted without the husband's consent if the wife is willing to forgo her financial rights.
Grounds for Judicial Divorce
Grounds on which a woman may seek khula IN PAKISTAN include:· Desertion by husband for four years, · Failure to maintain for two years · Husband contracting a polygamous marriage in contravention of established legal procedures, · Husband's imprisonment for seven years, · Husband's failure to perform marital obligations for three years, · Husband's continued impotence from the time of the marriage, · Husband's insanity for two years or his serious illness, · Wife's exercise of her option of puberty if she was contracted into marriage by any guardian before the age of 16 and repudiates the marriage before the age of 18 (as long as the marriage was not consummated), · Husband's cruelty (including physical or other mistreatment, unequal treatment of co-wives), and · Any other ground recognised as valid for the dissolution of marriage under Muslim law.

Please these reasons above are from Pakistani Shariah courts and NOT based on sound Islamic evidence or backing. (No Quran or hadith is provided) .These laws are made by men in a society where women have no little or no rights.

The other reason is that women in general do not have much say or power in Pakistani and Muslim households as it is a male dominated society. Therefore women do not have a right to decide anything in their lives.