In Islam wife is fully entitled to initiate or pronounce divorce though the procedure is different from that of her husband. If the husband is missing for a certain period of time or an indefinite time, or if he suffers from a fatal incurable disease, or if he is sexually impotent, and in some other cases and circumstances, the wife is given every right to initiate divorce. Moreover, if she suffers unhappiness, misery or incompatibility with her husband, then also she can do it with the intervention of court. There is another system of dissolution of marriage by the woman that is called “Khula” through which the wife can get separation from husband by returning the marital gift or part of it. It is not necessary that she should have a definite ground for pursuing Khula. Thus we see that both the husband and the wife can initiate divorce in Islam though the procedure is different.

The husband seems to be given the right to practice divorce arbitrarily; but this is not really so. In pursuing divorce the husband encounters financial disadvantages as he married his wife by giving her mohr (marital gift) and he is bound to give it to his wife at the time of dissolution of marriage if it is unpaid yet. Moreover, he will have to pay mohr for the second time if he wants to get married again. To make my point clearer, herein, I am quoting Dr. Jamal A. Badawi, a prominent Islamic scholar of the present time. He says, “Although both husband and wife suffer as a result of a divorce (psychologically for instance), a man has the additional burden of a heavy responsibility. He loses the whole of marriage gift, the wife is entitled to maintenance whilst in the waiting period (which can be as little as three months or as much as nine months); she is entitled to child maintenance if young children are in her custody; according to some jurists she would also be entitled to a consolation maintenance for a year etc. The fact that a husband who has so much to lose financially if he divorces his wife acts as a natural deterrent from abusing his right of divorce. If Muslim women had such a right, however, there would be no such check on them because they do not have any financial responsibilities towards their husbands.” But it does not mean that Islam does not give the wife the right to break the marital bond when she wants so. It only checks the abusing of such right.

Discussing the conditions under which a wife can unilaterally divorce her husband without seeking the court’s approval, Dr. Jamal A. Badawi pointed two situations:

  1. “Delegated Repudiation, where at the time of marriage or afterwards, the husband transferred his unilateral right of divorce to his wife; and
  2. Conditional Repudiation, where at the time of the signing of the marriage contract, the wife stipulated certain conditions to her husband, the breach of which would result in a divorce. “

The grounds on which a wife can seek divorce from her husband in the courts are:

  1. Inability or refusal of the husband to maintain his wife (even if she happens to be rich, it is still the full responsibility of the husband to maintain her).
  2. Abuse / mistreatment (which includes beating and swearing, cursing and attempting to force her to do wrong).
  3. Impotence of her husband (in recognition of the wife’s legitimate instinctive needs).
  4. Incurable, repulsive disease in the husband or insanity.
  5. Extended absence or desertion by the husband:
  1. If his whereabouts is known, he is given the chance to return to his wife before the divorce takes effect;
  2. If his whereabouts is unknown, a six-month or one-year waiting period is placed on the wife. If the husband fails to return, the wife is divorced from him.
  1. Imprisonment of the husband.
  2. Deception or concealment of important information at the time of the marriage.

“There are two methods of divorce by mutual consent:

  1. Mubarra, where husband and wife mutually agree to release each other from the marriage vows-they also agree among themselves the financial and other conditions for the release;
  2. Self-redemption (Khula), where, if the wife is unhappy with the conduct of her husband and has genuine grievances which she fears will cause her to fall into error if she continues in the marriage, then she obtains separation by returning her husband’s marriage gift in return for the dissolution of the marriage. Conditions that should be observed when using Khula method of divorce are
    1. There must be a genuine reason for seeking divorce
    2. Dissolution may be imposed on the husband if he refuses to let his wife go
    3. No husband may pressurize his wife into asking for Khula so that he can regain the marriage gift; and
    4. This form of dissolution can take place at any time.”

“So the lack of an unconditional unilateral right of divorce does not prevent a wife from seeking divorce from her husband, if she has good reasons for it, in any of the ways described above.”