2 MAIN TYPES OF DIVORCE:

  1. “TALAQ”

  • This is the divorce issued by the husband.

  • A husband has 3 chances to issue a divorce.

  • He does not need a reason in making his decision.

  • However, once this divorce has happened, the divorced man and woman cannot remarry again, unless the woman has married and slept with another man, then finds herself single again (either by another divorce or by death).

  • The woman gets no alimony or allowance. He owes her nothing.

  • The wife does not need to return her bridal dowry.

  • Example of how it works: A man issues a divorce to his wife. From that point, a waiting period/timer is now set upon the couple. In this waiting period, the wife remains in the husband’s home for either 3 menstrual cycles, 3 lunar months (if she has irregular periods), or until their baby is born (if she is pregnant), but they are not allowed to have intercourse during this time period.

Within this waiting period, the husband has the ability to take her back/revoke the divorce. This can either be done verbally or if he has sex with her within this 3-month period, his issuance of divorce becomes automatically retracted.

If the waiting period ends, and he has not revoked his issuance of divorce or slept with her during this time, then the divorce becomes finalized and irrevocable. From this point on, she gets returned back to her family and he does not need to accommodate anything for her any longer.

However, if she is breastfeeding his baby, he must provide enough to feed her since she supples milk for his child. If it causes too much difficulty to the point that even that is not possible, then the father can instead hire a wetnurse for the baby, and he won’t have to pay the mother anything.

Alternatively, if he does revoke his issuance of divorce within the waiting period or has slept with her, then he has 2 more chances to issue a divorce again in the future. After the 3rd time he issues a divorce, the divorce becomes irreversible and they cannot reconcile or remarry. It’s final for good.

The only exception is if she remarries another man and the marriage has been consummated, then this other man divorces her or dies, leaving her single again.

The obvious exception to this is if she has cheated and slept with another man while still married. If this is the case, she gets kicked out immediately and may be tried for adultery. She gets no waiting period.

  1. “KHULA”
  • This is a marriage annulment initiated by the wife.
  • She does not have the right to divorce her husband, but she may ask him to annul the marriage
  • The husband can negotiate a price for her to pay, a compensation to grant her the annulment. This could be the price of her bridal money which she pays back to him.
  • If the husband does not agree to letting her go no matter the price, and she insists, she may bring the case to Shariah court but must provide valid reasons and evidence for the judge to be able to annul her marriage. This may include legit abuse or neglect.
  • The man and woman can always remarry after each khula, no limit.
  • The man and woman must remarry on a new wedding contract with a new bridal dowry each time after any khula.