Divorce is legal for both men and women under Shariah, but some unscrupulous people do not hesitate to tamper with these rights to gain money.
"Ignorance of the law does not protect fools. Similarly, ignorance of Shariah rules does not guarantee the rights of divorced women," said Omar Al-Kholi, lawyer and legal consultant.
He said the trust some women put in their husbands is in many cases misplaced. "I am not criticizing these women or belittling their intelligence, but I have seen many cases where the confidence of a wife in her husband only brought her misery," he said.
Al-Kholi said divorce happens in three cases: First, when a men exercises his right to divorce his wife at any time; secondly, when wives exercise theirs to demand khula (annulment of the marriage) at courts if their husbands are abusing them or are unable to perform their marital duties; and thirdly, if there is nothing wrong with the husband but the wife cannot tolerate living with him.
“In the last scenario, the wife has to pay back the dowry to her husband," he explained.
Al-Kholi noted that some men may stipulate a certain amount of dowry in the marriage contract but only pay some of it when they get married. "Wives must be watchful. Some men may stipulate a dowry of SR50,000 and only pay SR25,000 of it. If the wife asked for a divorce, she has to pay the entire amount of dowry stipulated in the contract," he warned.
Sameeha Sulaiman was one woman who was divorced for no good reason. She told Arab News: "I went to Jeddah to spend the holidays with my family. I obtained permission from my husband before I left my home in Makkah. He had been getting on with my family. After five days, I told him that I was coming back. He told me that there was no need as he had divorced me."
Sameeha said she was still puzzled as to why her husband left her. She had done nothing wrong but it was obvious that the man used his right provided under Shariah to divorce his wife at any time and for no reason if he so desires.
Isra is another Saudi woman who was barely 22 when she divorced. She said she tied the knot to what she thought was a well-mannered man, but after seven months he started showing his true colors.
“I discovered that he was very miserly, not only financially but emotionally as well,” she said, adding that she tried her best to make it work but lost all hope when he tried to hit her.
Isra said he kicked her out of the house because she spent SR2,000 in a month even though he was actually making more than SR230,000 monthly.
"He stipulated in the marriage contract a dowry of SR40,000 of which he only paid SR25,000 when we got married. However, when I went to the court to ask for khula, he demanded the whole dowry to be paid back to him. The judge ruled in his favor and I had to pay SR40,000 to get my freedom," she said.
Um Samira had a similar story to tell. She said she spent 14 years of her life seeking a divorce from her ex-husband. "I had one daughter from my husband. When I discovered that he was psychologically unstable, I filed for khula. The judge asked me to pay the entire dowry of SR60,000 of which he had only paid SR38,000. I applied for divorce when I was 22 and only got it when I was 36. I spent many years trying to collect the money to pay for my freedom," she said.
Commenting on these cases, Muslim scholar Hassan Misfir said Shariah has given the wife the right to ask for khula if the husband was abusing her or not performing his marital duties. He, however, warned that khula could not be demanded on a whim and there had to be good reasons for asking for it.
"If the husband is very sick, abusive or impotent, the wife has the right to demand khula. In this case the judge will grant the annulment and guarantee all her rights. But if she asked for khula only because she could not tolerate him, she has to repay him the dowry stipulated in the marriage contract," he said.
Sheikh Misfir also said when a husband divorces his wife, he has to inform her and authenticate the divorce in court.
He also said before granting the divorce, the judge has to try to reconcile them using intermediaries from both sides. "If they fail to reconcile, the judge will divorce them," he said.
