Book of Divorce

Chapter: Rulings on Khulʿ

Khulʿ is the husband’s separation from his wife in return for a compensation, pronounced with specific wording. It is so called because the woman thereby “removes” herself from her husband just as one removes a garment, for each spouse is a garment for the other, as Allah, the Exalted, says: “They are a garment for you and you are a garment for them” (Q 2:187).

Marriage, as is well known, is a bond uniting the spouses in good companionship, from which a family and a new generation are produced. Allah, the Exalted, says: “And among His signs is that He created for you, from your own selves, spouses so that you may find tranquility with them, and He placed between you affection and mercy” (Q 30:21). When this purpose of marriage is not achieved—affection being absent on both sides, or on the husband’s side alone—the relationship deteriorates and becomes hard to remedy. In such a case the husband is commanded to release his wife graciously. Allah, the Exalted, says: “Retain her in kindness or release her with grace” (Q 2:229). He also says: “If they separate, Allah will enrich each of them from His bounty, and Allah is All-Encompassing, All-Wise” (Q 4:130).

However, if the husband’s love remains while the wife no longer loves him—because she dislikes him personally, dislikes his character, is disturbed by a deficiency in his religious conduct, or fears sin in neglecting his marital right—then in that situation it is permissible for her to seek separation on