By JOUD AL-AMRI | ARAB NEWS
Published: Jul 21, 2011 23:10 Updated: Jul 21, 2011 23:26

JEDDAH: Though Shariah is clear in its preservation of the rights of all people, some men exploit their wives’ ignorance of such rules to make money when divorcing them.

Divorce is legal for both men and women under Shariah, but some unscrupulous people do not hesitate to tamper with these rights to gain money.

“Ignorance of the law does not protect fools. Similarly, ignorance of Shariah rules does not guarantee the rights of divorced women,” said Omar Al-Kholi, lawyer and legal consultant.

He said the trust some women put in their husbands is in many cases misplaced. “I am not criticizing these women or belittling their intelligence, but I have seen many cases where the confidence of a wife in her husband only brought her misery,” he said.

Al-Kholi said divorce happens in three cases: First, when a men exercises his right to divorce his wife at any time; secondly, when wives exercise theirs to demand khula (annulment of the marriage) at courts if their husbands are abusing them or are unable to perform their marital duties; and thirdly, if there is nothing wrong with the husband but the wife cannot tolerate living with him.

“In the last scenario, the wife has to pay back the dowry to her husband,” he explained.

Al-Kholi noted that some men may stipulate a certain amount of dowry in the marriage contract but only pay some of it when they get married. “Wives must be watchful. Some men may stipulate a dowry of SR50,000 and only pay SR25,000 of it. If the wife asked for a divorce, she has to pay the entire amount of dowry stipulated in the contract,” he warned.

Sameeha Sulaiman was one woman who was divorced for no good reason. She told Arab News: “I went to Jeddah to spend the holidays with my family. I obtained permission from my husband before I left my home in Makkah. He had been getting on with my family. After five days, I told him that I was coming back. He told me that there was no need as he had divorced me.”

Sameeha said she was still puzzled as to why her husband left her. She had done nothing wrong but it was obvious that the man used his right provided under Shariah to divorce his wife at any time and for no reason if he so desires.

Isra is another Saudi woman who was barely 22 when she divorced. She said she tied the knot to what she thought was a well-mannered man, but after seven months he started showing his true colors.

“I discovered that he was very miserly, not only financially but emotionally as well,” she said, adding that she tried her best to make it work but lost all hope when he tried to hit her.

Isra said he kicked her out of the house because she spent SR2,000 in a month even though he was actually making more than SR230,000 monthly. read more

File photo shows Saudi women at a festival in Taif.