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Fatwa CenterA divorcee suing her ex-husband in non-Sharee'ah courts
Question
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the World; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions. Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh I got married three years back in India and got divorced after 9 months of my marriage. It was a arranged marriage, after marrying i found that the girl and her parents are doing black magic and going to babas (Muslim mens who perform black magic with Quranic Suras). The babas do the magic by burning some suras, and also by burrying some surah in the ground for 40 days. This type of magic even kills the person. I told her many times not to beleive in magic and beleive in Allah only and to pray, but she used to tell her parents to do magic for her job, visa and even for the protection of our marriage. After i got married, i fell seriously ill and also lost my job had many accidents. Finally i gave up on her and divorced her. Now she is in india and she has put a dowry case on me that i have hit her and abused her and demanded money from her parents. I swear on Allah i have neve even touched her and never demanded any money, she has put a case in court of dowry and physical assault on me and demanding me to pay her 20,000 Ruppess per month. She is calling me on the phone and threating me too. Also she took her all gold and other materials she had brough while marriage and no dowry was taken by us. Now she is demanding for the money which they spend on marriage also. Please answer my question immediately. Jazakaallahu Khaira
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 is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.
We would like to state that what a divorced woman deserves from her husband can be summarized in the following:
Firstly, a gift: which is an amount of money that the husband should give to his divorced wife according to his financial ability. Allaah Says (what means): {But bestow on them (a suitable gift), the rich according to his means, and the poor according to his means, a gift of reasonable amount is a duty on the doers of good.} [Quran 2:236].
Secondly, if the husband appointed to his divorced wife a delayed dowry at the time of the marriage contract and has not yet paid it for her, then he should give it to her, because it is the husband who is supposed to pay the dowry to his wife and not the other way around. Since you did not allocate to her a dowry - as it appears from your question- then she is entitled for a dowry of a woman who is at the same social status like her.
Thirdly, the husband is obliged to spend on his wife and provide her with accommodation as long as she is in her waiting period in a revocable divorce. Similarly, if she is divorced while pregnant, whether it is a revocable divorce or an irrevocable divorce, she is entitled to the above rights until she gives birth to her baby. Allaah Says (what means): {Lodge them (the divorced women) where you dwell, according to your means, and do not treat them in such a harmful way that they be obliged to leave. And if they are pregnant, then spend on them till they deliver.} [Quran 65:6]. For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 83934.
As regards your problem, we do not think that it needs a Fatwa, but we advise you to appoint rational arbitrators from your family and hers, and take the matter to the scholars so that they would study the issue according to religious requirements. However, it is not permissible to take the issue to non-Sharee'ah courts, and if the law gives the right to a person, which he is religiously not allowed to take, then it is not permissible for him to take it.
Allaah Knows best.
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