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Women’s Right to Divorce in Marriage Contract: Valid?

21 October, 2017
Q As-salamu `alaykum. I have heard some scholars saying that a woman is allowed to have the power of divorce (talaq) written in the marriage contract. Is there a difference of opinion on the matter?

Answer

Wa `alaykum as-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.


In this fatwa:

Granting women the right to divorce in marriage contract is a controversial issue; while some scholars allow it, others prohibit it.

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Responding to your question, Dr. Muhammad Salama, PhD in Islamic Studies in English and an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Islamic Science, Al-Madinah International University, states:

Granting women the right to divorce in marriage contract is a controversial issue. A group of scholars has allowed a woman to have the power of divorce written as her right in the marriage contract, while other scholars (actually most of them) consider this condition invalid.

In support of their position, this latter group quotes the Qur’anic verse, “Men are maintainers [of the affairs] of women, for God has preferred in bounty one of them over the other, and for what they spend [to sustain them] from their own wealth.” (An-Nisaa’4:34) arguing that such a condition contradicts the very essence of the marriage contract.

However, scholars have allowed a husband after marriage to authorize his wife to divorce herself. Agreement has even been reported concerning this point.

Allah Almighty knows best.