More Muslim marriages end with khhula, the woman’s inalienable right to instant divorce, and not as it’s widely perceived through instant triple talaq, which was set aside by a Supreme Court verdict in 2017, or through talaq-e-hassan, divorce at the man’s initiative. Data available at the Imarat-e-Shariah’s Darul Qaza or Islamic arbitration centres show most cases of divorce are filed through the khhula method, and an increasingly larger number of women are opting to end their marriage through khhula.
Unlike talaq, which is pronounced by the man, in the case of khhula, it’s the woman who initiates divorce, and surrenders her mehr (wealth transferred or promised to the woman at the time of marriage) at the time of such a divorce. Khhula can be effected orally or through a document called the ‘Khhulnama’. It has the effect of an instant divorce. If the mehr had not been given to the woman by the time she opted for khhula, she cannot demand the mehr as the marriage is being called off at her behest.
While cases of talaq-e-biddat are automatically ruled out due to the very nature of the act, there are few cases coming to the Islamic arbitration centres of women complaining against cases of talaq-e-hassan, the pronouncement of three divorces separated by at least a month between each pronouncement, or even mubarat, which is mutual divorce granted to a Muslim couple by the Shariah.
