A man married, and after a period of time, he discovered that his wife had a chronic illness before she married him. Is it permissible for him to take some of the mahr?

The questioner : In the case of a man who married, and after he married, he became certain that she was ill... He investigated the matter and it became clear that before he took her, the illness was already present in her, and suddenly... the illness. So they played with his head, saying that if she has a defect, her family must inform him that she was... before he took her. Even though he took her to a doctor and he examined her, and the doctor said there is nothing wrong with her, saying it is possible that she has a type of these illnesses before he took her. And now, after he took her three months ago, he is trying... on the basis of getting rid of her, and she leaves with her feathers.

The Shaykh : What is he trying to do?

The questioner : To get rid of her, and she leaves with her feathers, meaning through the doors of miracles. So, is it permissible for him to take some of the mahr that he gave her?

The Shaykh : Since you are saying that he examined her, and after the examination he took her, if he had not examined her and the people had not revealed her defect to him, then perhaps at that time he could have raised the matter to the judge, and the judge would order her to relinquish her right to what is due to her from him. But as the reality is, as you say, that he married her after the examination, I do not see that he has the right to force her to leave until she herself requests separation from him. In any case, a case like this is not resolved except in the Shari'ah court; it requires raising the matter to the judiciary. This takes a long time of argument and discussion.