Cases in which a wife is permitted to ask for divorce
Fatwa No: 131953

Question

Can the wife ask for divorce on the following reasons considering all shara'e rights were being provided to her by a loving husband (in a love marriage where husband and wfe shared plenty of love) 1. Wife says she does not trust him and believe he will emotionally hurt her. 2. Wife is asking husband to leave his parents or divorce her. 3. Wife saying in Islam a wife can ask for khul'a even if she does not like husband's face. Husband still a loving and humble person and does not want to leave his wife or parents.

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

 

First of all, it should be noted that it is not permissible for a wife to ask her husband to divorce her or to grant her Khul’ except for a sound reason, and we have already explained some situations in which a wife is permitted to ask for divorce; you may refer to Fataawa 88408 and 85390.

If a wife does not trust her husband or she believes that he will hurt her feelings, then this is not by itself a sound reason for asking for divorce unless she is really harmed by that, in which case, she may ask for divorce due to the harm.

As regards a wife giving her husband a choice to divorce her or to leave his parents, if she means that she wants to ask for a separate accommodation from his parents, then this is her right because a husband is obliged to offer her a separate accommodation and she is not obliged to live with his parents. So, if he does not provide her with this separate accommodation, she has the right to ask for divorce. For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 84608.

However, a husband may put his wife in an accommodation close to his parents in a way that he can visit them and check on them especially if they are in need for him. By the way, it should be noted that a wife should help her husband in being kind and dutiful to his parents.

On the other hand, if a wife hates her husband because he is ugly-looking or for anything else, she is permitted to ask him for Khul’ in return for a compensation she pays to him, in the same way the wife of Thaabit Ibn Qays did with him [her husband] and his story is confirmed in Saheeh Al-Bukhari. In this case, her hatred to him must reach a point where she fears to neglect his rights. For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 89039.

Allaah Knows best.

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