27-04-2025
Divorce and dower payment
EDITORIAL: Divorce almost is always a nasty affair, and can get even nastier where financial obligations are involved. The Nikahnama (marriage contract certificate) contains a column in which the husband can delegate the right to divorce to the wife. Seen as inauspicious, this provision is generally invalidated.
The wife has the right to divorce as Khula, however. Entered in the marriage certificate is also the amount of dower money, to be determined according to the husband's means of income, a bulk of which may be deferred payment. It is quite common for the wife or her family to demand a much higher sum as an insurance policy for her financial and marital security. That though, may yet lead to a gruelling legal battle in the event a woman wants to seek Khula.
The Lahore High Court has been hearing one such case after a man challenged the decisions of the Sahiwal district courts favouring his former wife.
In a substantive ruling on the issue delivered last Saturday, Justice Raheel Kamran upheld a woman's right to recover her full deferred dower even after obtaining a divorce through Khula.
Under Islamic law and the Nikahnama, said the learned judge, the husband remains obligated to pay dower unless the wife seeks dissolution of marriage simply because she dislikes him, losing the right to deferred as well as prompt dower. This is only fair.
But the mere fact that the wife sought Khula does not automatically nullify this contractual obligation, explains the court verdict, the key consideration to determine the woman's entitlement is the reason for her seeking Khula. If the husband's conduct compels the wife to seek dissolution, she retains her entitlement to the deferred dower. It needs to be said that many women stay in abusive marriages for fear of social stigma.
And those opting out in extreme circumstances, more often than not, avoid stating the real reasons that must stand scrutiny in court. In the instant case, however, the wife obtained the decree for dissolution of marriage citing the husband's bad behaviour and disrespectful conduct towards her in nine years of marriage. These unchallenged allegations, observed Justice Kamran, amounted to cruelty and provided a strong justification for the respondent/wife to be entitled to the full amount of her deferred dower in the same way as she would have been in case of divorce pronounced by the petitioner.
The same principle applies to return of dower from an ex-wife. In this context, justice Kamran referred to a Federal Shariat Court judgment that also held that where a wife seeks Khula due to fault on the part of the husband by providing reasonable justifications, it is not valid to require from her the return of the dower already received by her. These rights and protections Islam gives Muslim women must be respected by all.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
