We say: “But you deceived him.”

The fifth case is that it is intended to harm the wife. For example, the wife may be upright with her husband and their circumstances may be good, then another woman—envying her, for how often women envy other women—comes to her and says, “I will give you such-and-such, so free yourself from this man. Allah will provide you with a good and upright husband.” Thus she deceives her, and the wife agrees. This is unquestionably unlawful, because it is aggression.

The sixth case is that it is intended to harm them both: a man may envy the husband and wife and offer the compensation. This too is unlawful.

The seventh case is that it is for his own personal interest—that is, for the benefit of the one offering the compensation. An example is where the one offering it is attracted to a woman who is married, so he says to her husband, “Grant your wife a khulʿ, and I will give you ten thousand riyals.” This is unlawful, an act of aggression, and a crime. It is worse than enticing a woman away from her husband, because he has in fact corrupted her against him.

Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, was asked about a man who said to another, “Divorce your wife so that I may marry her, in return for such-and-such an amount of dirhams.” He strongly denounced this and said, “Would anyone do such a thing?! It is not permissible.”

The eighth case is that it is for the benefit of someone else. For example, a man may know that someone’s heart has become attached to this wife, so he says to him, “I see that you love so-and-so”—meaning the wife. He replies, “Yes, if only she could be mine.” So he says, “I will bring her to you, but give me some dirhams.” He gives him the money, and he goes and arranges her khulʿ. This is not permissible, because it is aggression and injustice.