‘Khula’ cases decreased in 2017

AMMAN — The “khula” (in Sharia, a form of divorce initiated by the wife) case numbers recorded in the Sharia courts in 2017 decreased to 343, compared with the 512 cases recorded in 2016, The Sisterhood Is Global Institute (SIGI) said in a statement on Thursday.

Khula stipulates that the already paid dower (mahr) be returned in full and in a single payment before the issuance of the court’s decision of annulment or “faskh”, which typically occurs when the husband refuses to consent to the wife’s decision to divorce, which is regarded as incapacitating as it only benefits well-off women, the statement added. 

Unlike women, men are accorded the inalienable right to divorce without any obligations to pay the deferred mahr and the awarded compensation in a single payment, according to the SIGI statement.