Dissolution of Muslim Marriage http://www.sdpi.org/know_your_rights/know%20you%20rights/Dissolu...

Sustainable Development Policy Institute

Know Your Rights

The Constitution of Pakistan and Fundamental Rights

What to do if your Rights have been Violated?
Rights in a Muslim Marriage
Dissolution of Muslim Marriage
Christian Hindi and Parsi Marriages
Custody of Children
Crimes against Women

Dissolution of Marriage
A Muslim Marriage is a contract and can be dissolved like any other
contract. It is automatically dissolved on the death of one of the spouses.
Other than this, both wife and husband have legal and religious rights to
dissolve a marriage. A husband has the unilateral right of talaq, which can
never be taken away but can be restricted through the nikahnama (clause
19). A wife can dissolve her marriage unilaterally only if the right of divorce
has been unconditionally delegated to her by the husband in the nikahnama
(clause18).

Other forms of dissolution of marriage which the wife can use are khula and
judicial divorce (including option of puberty). These both have to be sought
through the Family Courts.

The Importance of Following Divorce Procedures

No matter whether the marriage has been dissolved through talaq, khula or
judicial divorce, it is vital that legal procedures be properly followed.
Failure to do so can raise doubts about the effectiveness of the divorce and
lead to serious legal problems, such as a case of bigamy and zina against a
woman who later remarries, or difficulties in settling issues related to the
divorce such as past maintenance or claiming deferred haq mehr. The
paternity of children can also be disputed.

In addition to any court decree, the woman must make sure

she collects her talaqnama certificate from the Union Council
and keep it somewhere safe
Talaq

Penalty for
Role of Union
Procedure When Effective Violation of
Council
Procedure
By husband sends copy talaq is not simple
under of effective imprisonment
Sec. 7 for up to one
notice to until the
MFLO: year
wife by expiry of and/or a fine
husband registered iddat. of up to As
pronounces post. iddat is 90 5,000
talaq and
constitutes days from
sends
written Arbitration when the
notice by Council Union
registered within 30 Council
post to the days of received the
Union
receipt of notice of
Council,
mentioning notice. Talaq, or

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address once iddat after the

where wife is over, delivery of
issues child if wife
certificate pregnant
of Talaq (whichever is
being later).
effective to if
husband reconciliation
and wife. has failed
and notice
has not been
withdrawn

The Importance of Registered notice of Talaq

A verbal talaq is not recognised by law and the husband’s failure to send
written notice to the Union Council makes the talaq ineffective. Even if the
Union Council issues a certificate of talaq, if notice was not properly served
on the wife, the talaq can be challenged. This law was originally designed to
protect women from a instant and unrecorded divorce. Before 1979 and the
introduction of the Zina Ordinance, a woman who was not properly
divorced and who later remarried could be punished for bigamy and
sentenced up to 7 years (or up to 10 years if she concealed the previous
marriage) and only on the complaint of her first husband. However, since
1979, bigamy makes a woman liable to charges of zina which can carry
very severe penalty such as death. Therefore, it is vital for a woman to
be absolutely clear about her marital status and to have
documentary proof that she is properly divorced.

Notice of talaq can be served on a wife (with the Union Council’s

permission) through her father, mother, adult brother or sister – but no
other relatives. If this is not possible because her whereabouts are not
known and notice cannot be served on her through her immediate family,
the husband can still serve notice through a newspaper approved by the
Union Council.

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