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Ruling on Khul' under coercion

Question

Slam,i am 26 years old..i had nikah with my cousin in court 3 months ago in the presence of 2 witnesses and molana sahb.we both love eachother with our souls..i spent time with my husband and we had physical relationship as well.i was damn sure that i would made my parents accept this nikah later but when my parents came to know about it they threatend me to kill me and my husband and presurrised me to demand khula or else they would kill me and my husband..i asked for khula for sake of life of my husband and he unwillingly sent me divorce papers..now kindly tell me is this khula valid?(i was having my mensus on the day i received divorce paper)kindly give me precise answer about validity of khula and iddat of khula and remarriage with my husband after khula..thank you

Answer

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  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) is His Slave and Messenger.

First of all, you should know that [the consent of] the Wali (woman's guardian) is a condition for the validity of the marriage contract according to the view of the majority of Islamic jurists. However, if the marriage contract is conducted by an Islamic judge, it is a valid marriage as stated by the jurists.

Ibn Qudaamah  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him said after mentioning that the marriage is not valid without a Wali: “If the (Islamic) judge rules that this [marriage] contract is valid, or if the one who conducted it was the judge, it cannot be invalidated. The author of Al-Muhaththab said: “If the marriage contract is held without a Wali, and the judge ruled that it is valid, then there are two views on this: the first view is that his ruling is invalidated as it runs counter to a prooftext, namely the Hadeeth narrated by ‘Aa’ishah, which was mentioned earlier. The second view is that it is not invalidated and this is the correct opinion, because there is a difference of opinion [about the prerequisite of Wali].” [End of quote]

For more benefit on the conditions of marriage, please refer to Fataawa 83629 and 130284.

If Khul’ is issued under coercion, it does not take place as we have clarified in Fatwa 205168. The coercion under which Khul’ does not take place is if the person who threatens is able to carry out the threat and there is probable cause to believe that he will carry it out.

Also, Khul’ during menses is not forbidden according to most of the scholars, rather it is effective regardless of whether or not it is forbidden (i.e. even if we presume that it is forbidden according to some scholars). Shaykh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him said in his Fataawa: “...It is for this reason that most scholars are of the view that Khul’ in menses is permissible, because according to the statements of the scholars of Hadeeth, it is not a divorce but an irrevocable separation." For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 157463.

As regards divorce during menses, it is contrary to the Sunnah and forbidden, but it takes place according to the strongest view of the scholars; and it is the view of the majority of the scholars as clarified in Fatwa 81864.

On the other hand, according to the view of the majority of the scholars, the 'Iddah (waiting period) of a woman in Khul’ is like the 'Iddah of a divorced woman. Besides, Khul’ is one irrevocable divorce, so if it is an irrevocable divorce with minor separation, it is permissible for the husband to take back his wife with a new contract and a new dowry – even if this is during the waiting period.

Al-Kaafi, which is a book of the Hanbali School of jurisprudence reads: “In case a woman is given Khul' which counts as one irrevocable divorce, her husband may explicitly or indirectly propose to her, as he is permitted to marry her during her waiting period, because his sperm would not be mixed with another man's sperm [since the 'Iddah is there so that two men's sperm do not mix].” [End of quote]

Allaah Knows best.

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