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Fatwa CenterCompensation for Khul' in case husband did not give Mahr
Question
i took khul'a from the man i was married to. correct me, the procedure of khul' is that i have to return the mehr money or any gift or dowry from him, but in india the girl's father gives her dowry which included complete room furniture and kitchen equipments, also i was not given my mehr money, so in my case i have the right to take back complete dowry my father gave me, am i correct? he didnt give me my mehr money so theres no question of returning, he did gave me a gold earrings which i returned to him, tell me what apart from the earrings is his right? the gold which my father gave me on wedding in aslo in his house, does he have the right to claim the dowry n gold as his? also he demanded a large sum of money which was paid to him for khul' was that which he claimed his right? he claimed money n is also not ready to return my dowry, my question is how much right do i have n what are his rights. please clarify
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
Khul' is the separation of a wife from her husband in exchange for some compensation she pays to him. This was previously explained in Fatwa 89039. This compensation depends on their mutual agreement. If you agreed with this man on a specific compensation, and you paid it to him, then you are not required to pay anything else. There is disagreement among the jurists regarding whether the husband may take more than the Mahr (dowry) in the case of Khul'. The prevailing opinion is that the husband does not take more than the Mahr from his wife. We note here that some of the scholars concluded that if the husband harmed his wife (to make her ask for Khul'), then he is not allowed to take anything for compensation.
However, your husband has no right to take the gold which your father gave to you or any furniture with which he provided you as this is not considered part of the Mahr. Rather, the Mahr is a right for the wife over her husband. There have been previous explanations for the invalidity of the Indian custom of the wife’s family paying the Mahr to the husband and how that contradicts the Sharee‘ah. For more details, please refer to Fataawa 85873 and 88939.
As we mentioned, the Mahr is the right of the wife over her husband. Hence, if he specified an amount of Mahr in the contract, then that is her right. If he did not specify an amount, she should receive the same dowry as other woman of the same social status like her. As for the husband, his right is that he takes the agreed upon compensation as mentioned above.
Lastly, we note that these matters that breed dispute cannot be sufficiently dealt with in a Fatwa. Rather, it is best to refer this to the authorities specializing in Islamic judgments in those lands lacking Islamic courts, like Islamic centers, etc.
Allaah Knows best.
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