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Can any amount of money be given in a Khula agreement between husband and wife? 

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by TheMufti.com

Q. My niece married a man on an agreed amount of Mahr of a gold bangle valued at R10.000. Unfortunately, the marriage broke down and the man agreed to issue a divorce by Khula. He did not ask for the Mahr in return of issuing a divorce. He asked for R30.000 to issue a divorce.

So, my niece asked me to sell the gold bangle she received as Mahr valued at R10.000 to make payment to the R30.000.

I recently went to the jewellers to cash the gold bangle valued at R10.000, only to be told that it is BRASS and therefore of no value. !!!

I now understand why the ex-husband did not ask for the gold bangle given as Mahr for Khula.

I have not revealed this to my niece as she is likely to be very hurt by it and I have decided to rather simply pay the extra burden myself.

My questions are as follows: 

Is a Nikaah valid if the Mahr is fraudulently stated as gold bangle valued at R10 000, which in fact a BRASS BANGLE?

What are the requirements of my niece for khula, as the Mahr was not what it was stated to be, and is in fact BRASS of no value?


A. In the enquired case, Khula refers to the wife returning the Mahr value or any monetary value to the husband in exchange of the husband issuing a divorce to the wife.

To state the Mahr or its amount at the time of Nikaah is not a condition for the validity of the Nikah. Hence, if the Mahr was/was not mentioned or the amount was mentioned incorrectly or deceptively at the time of the Nikah, it will not have any effect on the validity of the Nikah.

Furthermore, if the amount of Mahr was mentioned at the time of the Nikah and the husband did not offer the mentioned amount or the amount is outstanding, it will remain a debt upon the husband to the wife. To the extent that if the husband does not pay it, it will remain a debt on his estate at the time of his demise.

In an event, Khula is sort by the wife from the husband and there is no Mahr or Mahr value, the Khula may be agreed upon on any amount of monetary value.

Allah Ta’ala Knows Best

Mufti Ismaeel Bassa

This answer was collected from TheMufti.com, which is a fatwa portal managed by Mufti Ismaeel Bassa from South Africa.

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