A man contracted marriage with a woman and did not consummate it; she was willing at the time of the contract, but afterwards, before he consummated it, she asked her guardian to order him to divorce her, and he agreed.

The questioner : His EminenceThe Shaykh : A man contracted marriage with a woman and did not consummate it; she was willing at the time of the contract, but afterwards, before he consummated it, she asked her guardian to order him to divorce her, and the husband agreed to give her one hundred thousand riyals. What is the ruling, given that he did not give her anything?

The Shaykh : And what is it?

The questioner : He gives her something.

The Shaykh : He did not give her anything, yes, that is right.
This is called khul' (divorce at the wife's request for compensation); it is called khul'. He is permitted to seek khul' from her, even before consummation. However, his demanding this ransom is undoubtedly an error on his part. For this reason, some scholars said: It is not permissible for the husband to demand a ransom from the wife except in the amount he gave her or less. For example, if he gave her a dowry of one hundred thousand and demanded one hundred thousand, is this permissible or not? It is permissible, because he did not cause her harm. But if he gave her a dowry of one thousand and demanded two thousand, some scholars say that it is not lawful for him to do so, and he is not to be given two thousand; he is to be given only the amount he gave. This depends on their disagreement regarding the saying of Allah the Exalted: Does the meaning refer to "what you ransom her with" absolutely, or to "what you ransom her with from the dowry you gave her"? It should be referred to the opinion of the judge who handles this matter. If he sees it in the public interest to separate them and give the husband only what he gave, let him do so, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to the wife of Thabit: