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Is it permissible to stipulate compensation in Khul' without the husband's consent, or to rule on the annulment of the marriage based on the opinion of the majority of the Muslim community, and is it permissible to establish the rule of Muslims with a non-Muslim judge present?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The basic principle is that khulʿ (divorce at the instance of the wife, with compensation paid by her) does not occur except with the husband's consent, because it is a divorce in exchange for compensation, and divorce is in the husband's hand. Therefore, it is not permissible for the judge or the Muslim community to determine compensation in khulʿ without the husband's consent. However, it is permissible to refer the matter to two arbitrators (ḥakamayn) for khulʿ without the husband's consent if the wrongdoing is from the wife and a benefit results from that.

It is not permissible to annul a marriage (faskh an-nikāḥ) except for a legitimate Sharʿi reason, such as the husband's failure to provide maintenance (nafaqa) or the wife being harmed by the husband's absence. The judge or the Muslim community carries out this annulment if it is in accordance with the Sharīʿah. It is stipulated that the judge must be male, free, Muslim, adult, sane, single (meaning, not a panel of judges), just, a learned mujtahid (one who can derive legal rulings), or the most knowledgeable of those who follow a specific school of thought. Thus, it is not permissible to appoint a disbeliever or a Muslim who is ignorant of Sharʿi rulings to the judiciary. If a Muslim needs to litigate before someone whose appointment is not valid in order to remove an injustice or uphold a right, there is no sin in that.

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

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