Book of Khulʿ
Khulʿ is a separation obtained in return for compensation, effected by wording of divorce or by the term “khulʿ.” A valid khulʿ requires a husband whose pronouncement of divorce is legally effective. Thus, if the husband is a slave or a person placed under interdiction for prodigality and he conducts a khulʿ, the transaction is valid but the compensation must be delivered to his master or guardian. Whoever receives the compensation must also have full capacity to dispose of property.

If a female slave secures khulʿ without her master’s permission, whether the compensation is a debt or a specific item belonging to him, she is separated from her husband. When the compensation is a specific item, the husband is entitled to a dowry equal to that of her peers; another view entitles him to the item’s value. When the compensation is a debt, he is entitled to the named amount; another view gives him a peer-dowry instead.

If the master authorises her and designates a particular item or fixes a definite debt and she complies, liability attaches to that item or binds her for that debt. If he gives general permission with no specification, the husband may claim from her earnings a dowry equivalent to that of her peers.

When the husband conducts khulʿ with a woman under interdiction for prodigality, or he says, “I divorce you in return for one thousand,” and she accepts, the divorce is revocable; if she does not accept, no divorce occurs.

Khulʿ effected by a woman in her terminal illness is valid. Only the portion that exceeds a peer-dowry is counted against her one-third bequest, and—according to the sounder opinion—the resulting divorce is revocable, not irrevocable.

The compensation may be small or large, a debt, a tangible asset, or a usufruct. If khulʿ is concluded for an unknown consideration or for wine, the separation still takes place, but the husband is entitled to a peer-dowry; another opinion requires that the wine be replaced with something lawful.

Either spouse may appoint an agent. If the husband says to his agent, “Effect khulʿ for one hundred,” the agent may not reduce that amount; and if he merely orders the agent to effect khulʿ without naming a figure, the agent may not set it below a peer-dowry. Should the agent stipulate less in either case, no divorce occurs, though another view holds that it occurs with a peer-dowry.

If the wife instructs her agent, “Obtain khulʿ for one thousand,” and he complies, it is valid. But if he exceeds her instruction and says, “I have obtained khulʿ for two thousand of her property as her agent,” the separation takes effect and she must pay a peer-dowry; another view obliges her to pay whichever is greater, the new amount or what she initially named.

If the agent attributes the khulʿ to himself and carries it out, he has effected the khulʿ.