What is Khulʿ, what is its correct procedure, does a divorce occur if the husband does not desire it, and what is the ruling on a woman seeking divorce in American society if she is not pleased with her husband?

Khulʿ is the separation of a wife in return for compensation taken by the husband. The basis for khulʿ in the Holy Quran is in the words of the Almighty: [And it is not lawful for you to take anything of what you have given them, unless both fear that they will not be able to maintain the limits of Allah. But if you fear that they will not be able to maintain the limits of Allah, then there is no blame upon either of them concerning that by which she ransoms herself] and in the Sunnah, the hadith of the wife of Thabit ibn Qays. The form of khulʿ is that the husband takes compensation and says to the wife, "I have separated from you" or "I have performed khulʿ with you." Divorce is the right of the husband, and it does not occur unless he initiates it. If one is forced to divorce unjustly, his divorce does not count. If a woman requests a divorce for a legitimate reason (such as her dislike for the husband or his immorality), there is no harm in her request for divorce, but she must perform khulʿ with her husband by returning the mahr (dowry). However, if the request for divorce is without cause, it is not permissible, and a court's ruling for divorce is not religiously valid, and the woman remains the man's wife. To solve the problem of court rulings for divorce without a legitimate religious reason, Sheikh Ibn ʿUthaymeen believes in the necessity of good-doers intervening to reconcile the spouses, or that the woman should pay compensation for it to be a religiously valid khulʿ.