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All praise is due to God Who gave us true religion and may peace and blessings be upon he who was sent by God with the true and tolerant religion Ours is a religion of moderation in devotion and transactions. In Islam, everyone is entitled to their due right; consequently, matters concerned with human transactions were not left to the whims of man to determine. Like devotional matters and the relationship between man and his Lord, human transactions are regulated by Islam. Marriage is one of the most important of human relationships. For this reason, Islam affords both husband and wife a way out of a miserable marriage. Marriage in Islamic law is a solemn covenant and a solid union that no wise law can easily dissolve for the least cause or feeble excuse by either party. Just as Islam has made divorce permissible for a man as a final and necessary solution to an intractable marital breakdown, it likewise affords a wife a way out of a marriage she hates. Therefore, if a wife wishes to dissolve the marriage unilaterally, she has recourse to what is known as ‘khul’ (divorce initiated by the wife in which she forfeits her dowry and maintenance). This paper follows a methodology of comparison between the various juristic schools. It gives preponderance to the school whose argument is stronger and impartially presents the substantiating evidences. In addition, reference is made to major juristic sources, stating the legal opinion on the issue. The paper includes the definition of khul’ and its legitimacy and mentions the misconceptions that revolve around its implementation in positive law, the time of its request, and the ruling for a husband’s consent to this kind of divorce. It also explains the cases in which khul’ is either permissible or impermissible such as in cases where there is discord, mutual compromise, and where either or both spouses wish to terminate the marriage.
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