DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE THROUGH KHUL IN ISLAMIC LAW

(A CASE STUDY OF KANO STATE)

By

Author

Presented To

Department of Law

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.