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What is the ruling on a divorce that occurred in a non-Islamic civil court under duress and threat? Is this divorce considered legitimate in Islam, and does the wife remain married to the husband?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

What happened to the husband – his wife divorcing him, his deprivation of his two daughters, and the division of his wealth – is a great tribulation that underscores the danger of living in those countries. The divorce that the husband did not utter does not take effect, and the wife’s second marriage is null and considered zina (unlawful sexual intercourse), because she fell into major prohibitions: seeking divorce without justification, establishing a relationship with a foreign man, resorting to courts that do not rule by Allah’s Sharia, taking money she does not deserve, and depriving the husband of his children. The wife is advised to return to the ruling of Sharia, return the money to her husband, and enable him to have access to his children.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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