Question

Please send me the authentic procedure of khul‘ah as prescribed in the Holy Qur’an and Hadith. A scholar who has studied from Madinah issued a girl khul‘ah letter one-sidedly. This scholar resides in USA and comes from Ghana. He did not contact the husband or his family. The girl told the scholar that her husband is in Pakistan studying. The girl claimed to have contacted her husband before taking khul‘ah from scholar. Is this khul‘ah correct or allowable from Islamic point of view?

Answer

Khul’ah is nothing but a demand from the husband to divorce the wife and separate her. This is a talaaq issued on the request of the wife. Actually there is no difference between khul’ah and talaaq. If a wife asks her husband to divorce her she only makes a request. The knot of marriage is in the hands of the husband. The wife is not released merely by making the request. The decision of the husband will be effective. In normal circumstances the husband will divorce her as she demands if he cannot settle the issue and fails to convince her to live with him. However, in many cases husbands refuse to release their wives. In such cases the court needs to call both the parties and listen to their views before deciding. If the court commands the man to divorce his wife and he still resists only then the court can decide and declare that the wife is separated.

Answered by: Tariq Mahmood Hashmi

Date: 2015-03-10