http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=120981&d=30&m=3&y=2009
Monday 30 March 2009 (04 Rabi` al-Thani 1430)
Women who wish to end troubled marriages find 'khula' conditions tough
Walaa Hawari | Arab News
RIYADH: Sara, a 32-year-old mother of three children, has been trying to
secure a divorce from her husband.
"My case has been in the court for three months," she said. "My husband
is demanding SR50,000 while all I received from him as a dowry was SR30,000."
Sara is one of many Saudi women seeking separation through khula, a form
of divorce in Shariah where the woman secures her divorce through financial
compensation to the husband that begins with a reimbursement of the dowry but
often includes what the husband sees as his additional expenses for the
marriage.
Sara's brothers offered to help out with the cash, "but it is not fair,
they all have families and responsibilities," she said.
"Some men use the khula system to make money on account of women who are
willing to pay off their husbands in order to end a troubled marriage," said
Noha, a 28-year-old mother of a four-year-old.
Noha is lucky. Her husband (who is also her cousin) agreed to
reimbursement of half of the dowry after family members intervened "to put
reason into his mind that I have given him five of my best years," she said.
Saudi Lawyers' Committee Deputy Director Hadi Al-Yami, who is also a
member of the governmental Human Rights Commission, pointed out that current
reforms taking place in the judicial system - one of Custodian of the Two Holy
Mosque King Abdullah's major reform initiatives - will hopefully improve the
situation of women caught in the personal judgments and rulings.
The lack of a standard methodology when dealing with divorce cases and
other family matters is a point of contention, Al-Yami added.
"The khula system needs to be standardized like many other judicial
regulations," he said adding that the family courts being established will set
standards that will apply to all courts and hopefully reel in the personal
decisions of individual judges.
Dima, a 43-year-old wealthy Saudi woman who has spent 19 months in the
current court system trying to secure a khula divorce from her husband, is a
case study in how the system can favor the husband over the wife.
"I am losing the best years of my life in the unjust judicial system,"
she said. "The judge had ruled in my favor three times, but my husband has been
able to challenge these rulings one way or another."
Dima says that her husband had been asking for financial compensation of
over SR600,000, calculating all the expenses he had put in his own home where
his three children live.
"The house is mine," she said. "He has been living in it for 15 years,
yet he is asking me to pay off the cost of an extension he built for himself,
and much more. What about the 15 years of my life I have lost? What are they
worth? How could the judge participate in extending my agony? Is this justice?"
Al-Yami says that under Shariah a husband is entitled to "'some' of his
dowry, and not all, and definitely not additional compensation. Shariah is
clear and obvious in such matters, and it urges us to treat women in a fine and
just way."
Furthermore, he added that khula compensation is dictated by various
factors, including number of years of marriage, number of children and the
potential negative impact the continuation of the marriage would have on the
wife.
Referring to the criticism Saudi Arabia has been facing after the
Universal Periodic Review by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva last month
regarding women and children's status, Al-Yami points out that human rights is
a basic Islamic principle.
In February, the Kingdom faced criticism during an active discussion of
the UPR for women's status, application of death penalty, physical punishments
and violation of labor rights in the Kingdom. All member states of the United
Nations undergo this review process
