A woman filed a divorce case against her husband due to harm, and the Sharia court, where Sharia and civil jurisdiction are mixed, ruled in her favor with a divorce.

The questioner: What do you think, Shaykh? He is speaking to you.

The Shaykh: That is better.

The questioner: May Allah preserve you, my professor. He is before you. Peace be upon you and Allah's mercy.

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.

The questioner : Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings.

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings and His forgiveness.

The questioner : How are you, Shaykh?

The Shaykh : Welcome.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : How are you?

The questioner: We praise Allah with well-being. May Allah preserve you.

The Shaykh : I hope you are well?

The questioner: We praise Allah. May Allah bless you.

The Shaykh: Welcome. Please, my brother, benefit us.

The questioner: Your brother in Allah, Salem al-Tawil, from Kuwait.

The Shaykh : Welcome.

The questioner: O Shaykh, I married a woman.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner: And a dispute arose between me and her.

The Shaykh: Good, there is no harm.

The questioner: So she filed a case with the court.

The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar.

The questioner: And she requested divorce due to harm, harm in personal status matters.

The Shaykh: What did I not understand? She requested divorce due to harm?

The questioner: Yes, that she is harmed.

The Shaykh: Ah, yes.

The questioner: And she wants a divorce.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner: I think divorce due to harm, she did not request khul', because divorce due to harm guarantees her financial rights, such as the deferred and immediate mahr and maintenance.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner: And so on. So I summoned her now to return to my guardianship and return to my obedience, and if she wishes, she can redeem herself, meaning I have no objection to khul'.

The Shaykh: Meaning, either she returns to the marital home or she seeks khul'?!

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: All right.

The questioner: This is the Sharia request that I saw. She said: No, I want the money. So she filed a case with the personal status court and hired a clever lawyer, and she was able to obtain the divorce.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner: So in that case, is this divorce valid? Or is she still my wife?

The Shaykh: Is the judiciary in your country civil or Sharia?

The questioner: It is mixed, this with that.

The Shaykh: Like most Sharia courts.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: Ah, okay. Before I speak, and I think it will become clear to you what the ruling is, I ask you:

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: Is it practically possible for a man to be in a situation where his wife has been divorced, let us say, by law,

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: and not by Sharia, even though, as you said, the case has this and that. Let us say that by law, a woman was divorced from her husband against his will.

The questioner: All right.

The Shaykh: Okay, how can he act afterwards, considering that this divorce is void and that this woman is still under his guardianship? Can he, for example, take her back into his guardianship, especially since this divorce allows her to marry another man?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: So what is the practical benefit of your question?

The questioner: The practical benefit?

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner: If the divorce is not valid.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner: And I fear that she will marry while she is still under my guardianship, in reality or by Sharia.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner: So I pronounce the divorce on her so that she does not marry other men while she is still under my guardianship. This is the benefit.

The Shaykh: Okay, good.

The questioner: Yes, I fear that if I leave her like this and she is under my guardianship, and for example, I wanted to marry four women, and I have, for example, three, and this is the fourth, I would not be able to marry the fourth; it would be a fifth if she is still under my guardianship by Sharia.

The Shaykh: This is sound Sharia reasoning.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: If this is the prohibited matter.

The questioner: Yes, this is what I mean.

The Shaykh: Okay, this returns to you. If this divorce, according to the Sharia you have, is not considered a divorce in your view.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: So the reality is that the solution to free her from the misfortune of marriage

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: without you, while she is still under your guardianship by Sharia, is that you must divorce her.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: But we will say in the end.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: Is this divorce Sharia-compliant?

The questioner: Which divorce?

The Shaykh: Your divorce?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: Your divorce, this one.

The questioner: If it is Sharia-compliant, the divorce did not take place because it came from the court.

The Shaykh: It is, it is. I say, assuming that that divorce did not take place.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: And you wanted to divorce her.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: Would your divorce be Sharia-compliant?

The questioner: Yes, it would be a Sharia-compliant divorce...

The Shaykh: Would it not be, right? But would it not be a forced divorce?

The questioner : Yes, you may.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner: A forced divorce, yes.

The Shaykh: So in that case, does a forced divorce take place?

The questioner: Yes, it may not take place.

The Shaykh: If you wish to raise it, you may.

The questioner: Yes, yes, it does not take place, then.

The Shaykh: Ah, it does not take place.

The questioner: Another problem.

The Shaykh : Hmm.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: Therefore, I do not know. I return to my previous view, meaning, what is the result of this attempt? Because if you wanted to divorce her, you are forced.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: If you do not divorce her, she is divorced anyway, against your will.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: So the problem remains.

The questioner : Yes, yes.

The Shaykh: And the result is that she will be sinful.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: And if she marries, she adds sin to sin, and you are free of blame. But if the intention is something else, do not hold me to this, then it must be investigated.

The questioner: Like what?

The Shaykh: I do not know what comes to the mind of a husband whose wife was divorced from him against his will and in an un-Sharia manner. I say this as a precaution. But I return to the issue from its origin. If this divorce was from a Sharia judge who rules by Sharia, then you have no choice but to accept this reality.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: Because the judge's ruling is executed in appearance and in reality, even if he is mistaken.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: But our problem here is that we do not think these rulings are Sharia rulings, but rather legal, regulatory rulings.

The questioner: Shaykh, one of the things that means the situation is not a Sharia situation is that the court has three levels.

The Shaykh : Hmm.

The questioner: The case... and appeal and cassation.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner: So if the first ruling is issued by a single judge, the judge in the general court issues the first ruling. If one of the parties appeals, unless the ruling passes, and the appeal is within one month. If thirty-two days pass and there is no appeal, the first ruling passes.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner: If you do not have the knowledge that the law gives you only one month for appeal and the month passes, it is over.

The Shaykh: You missed the train.

The questioner: The first ruling is executed on you.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner: So if you request an appeal, it is either amended or upheld, the first ruling.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner: By the three judges, who are the three judges.

The Shaykh: Do you mean amended?

The questioner: Or upheld.

The Shaykh: Do you mean amended, meaning annulled? Annulled means opposed, upheld.

The questioner: Annulled or amended; they call it amended.

The Shaykh: Yes, what is meant by amendment? It does not mean annulment.

The questioner: ... The amendment may be in the circumstances of the ruling, for example, a ruling regarding me, for example.

The Shaykh: No problem, let us proceed with you so we do not drag this out. Can the amendment reach the level of annulment?

The questioner: This is possible.

The Shaykh: Okay, let us proceed. It is amended or upheld, and then?

The questioner: And then you have the right for a period of one month to request cassation. The Court of Cassation is the third stage.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner: If you do not request cassation, the ruling is executed on you, the appeal ruling.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner: Meaning, for example, if the woman was divorced in the first ruling, and then she requested an appeal, and the appeal said no, she is not divorced, then in that case she is not divorced, even though she was divorced in the first ruling.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner: So now, the one who knows the laws, for example, a clever lawyer or someone who knows the laws, can win it.

The Shaykh: Okay, so the ruling was issued as you said in the first stage?

The questioner: It was issued in the first stage and amended in the second stage.

The Shaykh: Ah, so you have a chance now in the third stage!

The questioner: It is over.

The Shaykh: It is also over.

The questioner: We did not request cassation, neither I nor they.

The Shaykh : Why?

The questioner: Because she traveled. I am in Kuwait and she is Jordanian. She took a non-return exit to Jordan. She did not request cassation. She is the one who filed the case, not me.

The Shaykh : Yes, yes.

The questioner: So she had the right to request cassation, but she did not request cassation.

The Shaykh: Okay, and the husband does not have the right?

The questioner: He has the right.

The Shaykh: Okay, so your statement that she is the one who requested it is not applicable here, since you also have the right to request, like her request. For example, she requested divorce and it was ruled in her favor, so you may request annulment.

The questioner: I am not in the mood to enter the court at all, Shaykh. I am not in the mood to enter the court at all, meaning the courts.

The Shaykh: I understand, I understand, my brother. But after I was surprised.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: Do you not have the right by Sharia to request, for example, in this first, second, and third stage, the annulment of this divorce?

The questioner: We can do it, yes.

The Shaykh: Here is the important thing: you missed the opportunity.

The questioner : Yes, yes.

The Shaykh: Now, then, we return to where we started.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: What is the benefit of our remaining in the state that this divorce is not Sharia-compliant?! I do not think there is any result at all in this.

The questioner: I want to get out of it. How?

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner: I want the solution. Well, Shaykh, in the current situation... and she wanted to return, and the ruling was executed now. The ruling at the court was executed, and she obtained a divorce certificate from the court. So I take her back. Actually, no divorce happened at all, so that I can take her back. Meaning, no divorce happened so that I can take her back. But is it like... or do I need a new contract? Let me repeat my question, O Shaykh?

The Shaykh: No, I am thinking. Has her waiting period passed?

The questioner: It has passed.

The Shaykh : No, a new divorce is necessary.

The questioner : A new divorce?

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : Yes, because there is a possibility that it occurred, is there not?

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : Yes, well, Shaykh, the ruling was issued conditionally.

The Shaykh : And what is it?

The questioner : The first ruling issued was that she be divorced due to harm, in exchange for returning what she received of the mahr and the dropping of all maintenance and the deferred mahr. This is the first ruling, meaning she is divorced in exchange for returning what she received, the mahr is assessed, the deferred mahr is dropped, and all maintenance she took during the case is returned.

The Shaykh : So this condition is in your favor?

The questioner : In my favor, yes.

The Shaykh: All right.

The questioner : But since it took the form of khul'.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : You give me my rights and you divorce me.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : She requested an appeal and played games, meaning with a lawyer, back and forth, back and forth, and prolonged it until the case reached four years and two months.

The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar.

The questioner : Even though the marital life lasted less than three weeks.

The Shaykh : Less than?

The questioner : Three weeks!

The Shaykh : There is no god but Allah.

The questioner : Then it entered the court for four years and two months.

The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar.

The questioner : Yes, so in the end, in the end, they used with her the method that should have been used first, which is khul': do you want the husband or do you not want him?

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : You do not want him, so give him his rights.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : This should have been done from the first session.

The Shaykh : Correct.

The questioner : But postponement and postponement... judicial.

The Shaykh : And the lawyers and the lawyers and the laws.