Chapter on khulʿ (divorce at the wife’s request in exchange for compensation)

His statement: “Khulʿ”: with either a fatḥah or a ḍammah on the first letter. With a ḍammah, it denotes the meaning itself; with a fatḥah, it denotes the act—just as ghasl means the act of washing, whereas ghusl denotes the washing itself.

The root of khulʿ is the expression “to remove a garment.” In legal terminology, it means a husband’s separation from his wife in return for compensation.

According to the madhhab, khulʿ has specific prescribed wording, such as the term khulʿ, ransom, annulment, or similar expressions. If it is effected using the wording of divorce, however, it counts as a divorce.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) held that it has no specific prescribed wording, because its purpose is for the woman to ransom herself from her husband. Accordingly, any wording that indicates separation in return for compensation constitutes khulʿ, even if it is expressed in the wording of divorce. Thus, if he says, for example, “I divorce my wife in return for compensation of one thousand riyals,” we say: This is khulʿ. This is also reported from Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them): anything involving compensation is not divorce. Abdullah, the son of Imam Ahmad, said: “My father held concerning khulʿ the same view as Abdullah ibn Abbas”—that is, that it is an annulment, whatever wording is used, and is not counted among divorces.

An important issue follows from this: if a man divorces his wife