Does Islam permit women to give divorce?

‘Talaq’ is an arabic word used for ‘divorce’ when given by a husband to his wife. A woman can very well divorce the husband in Islam, but this is not called ‘talaq’.

        According to Sunan Abu Dawood, Hadith No. 2172 and 2173 which is also mentioned in Sunan Ibn-i-Majah, Hadith No. 2018, the Prophet (pbuh) said that among the permissible things, the most hateful in the sight of Allah, is divorce. However the following conditions need to be fulfilled.

a.         The person should not be in a state of intoxica tion while giving divorce.

b.         The person should be in a sound state of mind and not mentally unstable.

c.         Before deciding on giving a divorce there should be a mutual talk regarding the situation between the     husband and the wife.

d.         According to Surah Nisa, chapter 4 verse 35, if the talks fail, two arbiters should be appointed, one from the husband’s family and the other from the wife’s family. In short, have a family meeting to avoid divorce.

e.        Only if all these measures fails, can a person go ahead to give divorce.

f.        According to Surah Al-Talaq, chapter 65 verse 2, while pronouncing Talaq, two persons endued with justice should be taken as witnesses.

                           There are five different types of divorce in Islam:-

1.       With the mutual consent of both the husband and the wife. Here both may agree that they are not compatible with each other.

2.       With the unilateral will of the husband. Here, the husband has to forego the ‘meher’, that is, the dower he has given to the wife. In case any amount of meher has remained unpaid, he should give it to the wife.

3.       With the unilateral will of the wife. This is only permis sible if she specifies it in her marital contract that she too will have the right of unilateral divorce. This is called as Ismah or talaq-e-taufid.

4.       If the husband ill-treats or neglects his wife or does not maintain her properly, she has a right to go to a judge and nullify the marriage. This is called as Nikah-e-fask.  Here, the judge decides whether the husband has to give the complete amount of meher or part of it to the wife.

5.       The last type is called ‘Khula’.  Here the husband may be very good, but due to personal reasons, the wife may wish to separate. Here, with the permission of the husband she can separate but she has to forgo her marital gift, that is, her meher.

Some jurists give different names for the above described divorces, while many club the different types of divorce and broadly divide the different types into two or three categories.