Almost all men and women with access to newspapers would have heard of triple talaq. Not many, though, would have heard of khula, the woman’s inalienable right to divorce. Worse, even Muslim women seem unaware of this right.
Under khula, a woman has a right similar to that of a man to dissolve the marriage. What’s more, she has to specify no grounds for effecting the divorce. She has to furnish no proof of harassment or ill treatment. Something as simple as a dislike for her husband’s looks can be reason enough for khula to take place, as proven in Islamic history.
In Till Talaq Do Us Part, Ziya Us Salam explains that the women’s right to dissolve a marriage is well protected by the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, and the Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act, 1938. They, in addition, enjoy at least five other ways of getting rid of incompatible, violent or slanderous husbands. The conditions for this cover everything from dowry demands to casting aspersions on the character of the wife, or simply the inability to fulfil marital obligations.
They are as follows:
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