The husband has gone to Pakistan — what should the wife do?

Question

Question: ‘Abd al-Malik married his minor daughter to a man, but it later became known that the man is a Pakistani. Then the governor sent him to Pakistan, while his wife (remained) in India. A year or a year and a half has passed and there is no trace of the man. Now the question is that keeping this woman at home is very difficult. May this woman contract nikah with another man or not?

Answer

A talaq should be obtained from him by sending a registered letter, or arrangements should be made to send the woman there, or arrangements should be made to call the husband here. If none of these courses can be done, then the procedure of Shari‘a separation (tafriq) should be ascertained and acted upon. For now, contracting nikah elsewhere is in no way permissible.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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