His ex-wife’s father demands for the expenses of his daughter’s marriage
2-8-2011 | IslamWeb
Question:
Dear Sir, Assalamualikum, May Allah grant you peace and health. I Syed Firasat Ali, presently working in Makkah, i am married and i have one son who is 4 years old, i have given divorce (i.e. Talaq e bayana in Urdu) to my wife as she did sin by having an affair with my younger cousin brother first of all she told me that this affair is only over the phone not physically i was not convinced with her answer so after days i tried to confirm with her relationship with my cousin so she confirmed that she slept with him so i have given divorce to her and she also confess to me that she loves him.. i want to know when i have given Talaq e bayana to my wife but her father is asking me to give Khula , i have give her maher on spot during marriage and i have given three months food money during her iddat period and wat ever she brought from her house like furniture, clothes, and gold i am returning back to her wat ever she brought.But her father is saying that he brought fatwa that he can demand for expenses what he occured during marriage like food, and charges of function hall etc please advise whether in islam is it there to give all these expenses as well. Please advise me i will be very thankful and greatful to you. Looking forward to hear from you soon. Thank you, Kind Regards, Firasat.
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.
If you mean that you have said to your wife, for instance, 'I have divorced you irrevocably’, then what is effectuated thereby is a controversial issue among the scholars. Some of them consider it equal to three pronouncements of divorce, others no more than one revocable divorce, and others consider it to be one irrevocable divorce, and some say that it depends upon what the husband has really intended.
On the other hand, we do not know the reality of the Fatwa your wife's father has mentioned, and on which basis he has the right to demand for those expenses.
The basic rule is that he has no right to demand those expenses from you. If he means that he deserves that by Khul‘, it should be known that by Khul‘, it is the husband and not the woman who deserves compensation in return for him divorcing her.
For further information, please refer to Fatwa 83934 which discusses the rights of the divorced woman; and Fatwa 89039 about the Khul‘.
Allaah Knows best.