Asking for Khul' because husband does not trust most scholars
Fatwa No: 239809

Question

Assalamu alaykum wa ramatullah wa barakatuh Bearing in mind that I am only in nikah and wedding hasnt happened yet, I have a question about my right for khula. My husband seems to be suffering from post traumatic syndrome, I feel sorry for him, but I wish to leave him, because he doesnt trust any imams scholars of today; I even mentioned albani and ibn tammiyyah, but he doesnt seem interested to know, nor does he seem keen to learn more about Islam. Now thats a big difference between him and me, and im worried this may cause hardship for me, if he doesnt trust such people, and I do and contact them (if I see them reliable, ofcourse, I dont trust them blindly)... The only ones he trusts is moullana tariq jameel, and one other, and thats it. Shall I seek khula? I want to come on to a decision, what shall I do? ... Or should I try to change him? If so, then how much trying is trying enough and for how long, before I have the right for khula?

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.

It is not permissible for a wife to ask her husband for divorce or Khul’ unless she has a legitimate reason, as we have already clarified in Fataawa 88408  and 85390. We clarified there the cases when a wife is permitted to ask for divorce, so please refer to them.

What you mentioned about your husband not trusting any Imaams or contemporary scholars, or not showing interest to learn about Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah and Shaykh Al-Albaani, or not showing any interest in learning his religion - then all these are not legitimate reasons for asking for divorce or Khul’.

However, if you fear that you would not be able to fulfill your obligations towards him and you fear to be negligent about his rights, then you have the right to ask him for Khul’ in return for compensation. For information on the rulings of Khul’, please refer to Fatwa 89039.

Nevertheless, if you can be patient with him, then you may do so especially if he is a religious man with a good moral character. Among the means of reconciliation is to supplicate Allaah for him and debate with him in a gentle manner and clarify to him the virtue of many past and present scholars, as he might be confused by some misconceptions about them.

Allaah knows best.

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