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How can the second wife obtain a divorce from her unconscious husband, taking into consideration that the first wife is unaware of his second marriage and the second wife does not desire any financial compensation?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If a husband loses the ability to engage in sexual intercourse due to an incurable defect, and he does not provide for his wife, she has the right to seek annulment on the grounds of indigence after bringing the matter before a judge. However, if he does provide for her, the Malikis hold that she does not have the right to seek annulment if he has had intercourse with her even once, and her option in cases of impotency (jabb) and castration (khasa’) is not forfeited except after consummation (dukhul) and touching, according to the well-known opinion. The Shafi'is, on the other hand, hold that she has the option (to annul) due to this defect occurring after the marriage contract, whether it occurred before or after consummation, except for impotence (unna) occurring after consummation, in which case she has no option. And the option must be exercised immediately.

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

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