assalam-u-alaikum. I married a man in Pakistan in 2006 and because we had no communication for almost a year i applied for khulla from the islamic sharia council in the uk.I never applied for his visa and he never entered the uk. we only ever had a nikah because that is all that is needed in pakistan.i am now married to another man from pakistan and have applied for his visa to enter the uk but it has been declined because they do not accept my divorce. they are saying that i should have a civil divorce which i don't understand because i was never married in the uk. i had an islamic marraige and an islamic divorce. i have appealed to immigration and am looking for some sort of evidence to back what i am saying.unforunately i cant get in contact with islamic sharia council.please could you tell me wether what i have done is right. i need an answer urgently. Jazak Allah

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

Khul’ does not take place except with the consent of the husband but his presence is not a condition; rather, this can be done by him appointing someone to act on his behalf. Therefore, if this Council ruled that you are separated from him, then we do not know on what basis they ruled this.

Hence, we cannot authoritatively assert whether or not this second marriage is valid because you might have remarried while you are still a wife of the first husband. So, we advise you to contact the Sharee’ah Council so that you would clarify the matter to them and they would issue a Fatwa to you accordingly.

In general, if divorce takes place and it was before the consummation of the marriage, then it becomes permissible for the woman to marry because she does not have to observe a waiting period. As regards the civil divorce, then this is not required under Sharee’ah.

On the other hand, if a woman is not able to bring her husband to the country where she resides, then she should go to him so that she would reside where he resides, especially that residing in a non-Muslim country has many disadvantages especially on their future children. For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 86405.

Finally, it should be noted that if a Muslim does not know the Sharee’ah ruling concerning what he/she wants to do, then he/she should first of all ask the scholars; Allaah Says (what means): {So ask the people of the message [i.e. former scriptures] if you do not know.}[Quran 16:43]

Allaah Knows best.