Can you please clarify this verse. Does this mean that the woman cannot pack up and leave while her husband is away, then file for divorce through the court system? What would be the ruling for a woman who did this? Should she return back to her husband if he did not pronounce divorce? Jazakallah khair
AAWW
The proper Islamic way to terminate the marriage contract from the wife’s side is to ask for it from her husband whenever there is a legitimate reason for it. Executing divorce should be done peacefully between the spouses. Leaving the house during the absence- or even the presence- of the husband and applying for a divorce through the legal system is not the Islamic way and it is completely rejected. Furthermore, initiating divorce through the legal system by a non-Muslim judge and upon the wife’s request does not terminate the Islamic marriage contract, unless it is followed by a divorce issued by the husband himself.
If a Muslim woman left the house and got her divorce through the civil court, she has to return back to her husband and follow the above Islamic rules accordingly.
