DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE THROUGH KHUL’ IN ISLAMIC LAW: A STUDY OF KANO STATE
DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE THROUGH KHUL’ IN ISLAMIC LAW: A STUDY OF KANO STATE
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Date
2021-04
Authors
SULAIMAN, Abdul Rahman Sagir
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Abstract
Marriage in Islamic Law is special contract developsthrough love thatbrings compassion
between the spouses among others. However, circumstances may arise where the couple
cannot live together in harmony anymore in their marital relationship; its continuance is,
therefore, no longer considered desirable. Divorce is permitted as solution for the avoidance
of greater evil, which may result from the continuance of the marriage. In Islamic law, men
have direct power to effect divorce whereas the womenhave similar power;through Khul’
(Self-redemption) which requires her to redeem herself in lieu of the separation. The
assessment of the amount of consideration to be paid by the wife remains an issue of bitter
controversy even among the judges of Shari’ah Court of Appeal in Kano State, Muslim
scholars and legal practitioners in Kano state. For instance, the court in its judgment awards
the quantum of the consideration of Khul equal with the Sadaq paid whereas on the other
cases it awards the quantum that is higher than the Sadaq paid even though, all the cases
have the same fact and circumstances and the court usually does so without giving any
justification. Therefore, the yardsticks used by the Shari’a Court of Appeal Judges of Kano
State for the determination of the quantum of Khul payable by the wife remains uncertain and
unclear. More so, the growing rate of dissolution of marriages in Kano state through the
process of Khul is conspicuously alarming. These anomalies provoke this research with
objectives to find out the yardsticks used by the Shari’ah Court of Appeal to assess the
payable consideration of Khul, to find out the level/degree of the growing rate of Khul’ in
Kano state and to proffer recommendations to tackle the problem(s) discovered therein. The
work combines the two types of methodologies: Doctrinal (text-based method) and Empirical
(involves administration of questioner and courts records’ observation).This work found that,
though the judges of the Shari’ah Court of Appeal of Kano State do comply with provision of
Shari’ah but they do not have standard yardstick used in respect thereof. For instance in
most judgements studied the quantum were increased by the court without giving a
justification for the increment. It is found that, the rate of Khul in Kano state between the
years 2014 to 2016 is rising though in a fluctuating pattern. The work therefore, recommends
for the Grand Khadi of Kano State to make it part of the rule of the court that all the judges
shall state in their judgment the factor they considered and evaluated in dertermining the quantum awarded
Description
A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE
STUDIES, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF MASTER OF LAWS
DEGREE LL.M.
DEPARTMENT OF ISLAMIC LAW,
FACULTY OF LAW,
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY,
ZARIA, KADUNA STATE
NIGERIA
Keywords
DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE,, KHUL’,, ISLAMIC LAW,, STUDY,, KANO STATE.