Does a wife have the right to obtain a talaq through a court?

Question

Question: Bakr married Bakira. Bakira’s parents, besides giving a lavish dowry, also loaded upon Bakr a deferred mahr (mahr mu’ajjal) of seventy thousand rupees. After some time, tension arose between the two for a reason having no basis in the Shari‘a; the tension grew into enmity, and the enmity reached the court. Bakr insists on bringing his wife Bakira to his home honourably, but Bakira is not willing.

Answer

(1) In the circumstances described, this demand of Bakira’s parents is wrong; they have no right to it. The demand that the son-in-law be kept in the wife’s home is not acceptable: that depends on the husband’s will.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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