the right in marriage belongs to the husband: he is the one who seeks it, chooses the woman, and has the marriage contract concluded with her.

But in this case, if she says, “I am bringing a claim against him so that he may separate from me. I do not want maintenance, a bridal gift, or anything else from him; rather, I am his wife, and I make this claim so that he may separate from me,” is her claim heard or not?

The answer is: yes, it is heard. This is remarkable: she claims something in order to escape from it; she claims marriage in order to obtain separation. She says, “This man does not acknowledge that I am his wife, but I want him to divorce me, because I believe that I am his wife. And if I believe that I am his wife, then I cannot marry another man, whereas I am a woman who wishes to marry.”

We say: in this case, her claim is heard, and the husband is ordered to divorce her. He is told: “Divorce her. It will cause you no harm: no bridal gift, maintenance, or anything else will be taken from you. But divorce her on the basis of her claim.” They say that he must divorce her in this case, so as to release her from her predicament.

In fact, they mentioned this discussion in the chapter on admissions. There is no doubt that it affords relief to the woman, but it raises another problem: any woman wishing to harm someone could claim that he is her husband, in order to bring him before the judge and drag him through the courts, causing him hardship through litigation. Thus, from one perspective, this strengthens the view that there is no harm in hearing her claim and ordering the man to separate from her. From another perspective, however, it may be said that it is preferable not to hear the claim, and she should be told: “At present, you are not married according to the apparent ruling in the sight of Allah, so you may marry.” Which of the two is preferable: to take this issue into consideration, and the fact that some