The ruling on requesting divorce due to mental illness and the bridal gift
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
She says that she is a young woman at the beginning of her life, and a man proposed to her for marriage, but he was afflicted with a mental illness. At that point, she wants to take a divorce from him, as she says, and she asks about the bridal gift and what was gifted to her. How do you guide her, Shaykh Salih? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh:
It is permissible for a woman to request a divorce if there is a valid legal justification, and this must be done through the judge in the court. As for her rights, the judge is also the one who rules on them.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good. So, it is necessary to go to the court in that case.
The Shaykh:
This is necessary, and she cannot pursue this except through the court.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh:
Unless he divorces her of his own accord, or they reach a settlement where he divorces her and she gives him some money; this is called khul' (divorce at the wife's request for compensation). This is valid even if they do not go to the judge.
The questioner:
If it is a mental illness, and he mentioned that and said...
The Shaykh:
Yes, because this is considered a defect or shortcoming that entitles her to request khul' (divorce at the wife's request for compensation) if this illness is permanent with him and causes harm to her. She has the right to request it, but through the judge, unless they reconcile.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good.
She says that she is a young woman at the beginning of her life, and a man proposed to her for marriage, but he was afflicted with a mental illness. At that point, she wants to take a divorce from him, as she says, and she asks about the bridal gift and what was gifted to her. How do you guide her, Shaykh Salih? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh:
It is permissible for a woman to request a divorce if there is a valid legal justification, and this must be done through the judge in the court. As for her rights, the judge is also the one who rules on them.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good. So, it is necessary to go to the court in that case.
The Shaykh:
This is necessary, and she cannot pursue this except through the court.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh:
Unless he divorces her of his own accord, or they reach a settlement where he divorces her and she gives him some money; this is called khul' (divorce at the wife's request for compensation). This is valid even if they do not go to the judge.
The questioner:
If it is a mental illness, and he mentioned that and said...
The Shaykh:
Yes, because this is considered a defect or shortcoming that entitles her to request khul' (divorce at the wife's request for compensation) if this illness is permanent with him and causes harm to her. She has the right to request it, but through the judge, unless they reconcile.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، فتاة تقدم لخطبتها شاب لكنه أصيب بمرض نفسي والآن تريد الطلاق منه فكيف توجهونها بالنسبة للمهر وما...؟ — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.