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Chapter 30 - A Sharīʿa Court Decision on the Type of ‘Compensation’ in Huləʾə/Khulʿ Divorce

Amhara Regional State Supreme Sharia Court (2018)

from Part IV - Court Judgments and Other Court Documentation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2024

By
Asnakech Getnet Ayele
Edited by
Omar Anchassi  and
Robert Gleave
Omar Anchassi
Affiliation:
Universität Bern, Switzerland
Robert Gleave
Affiliation:
University of Exeter
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Summary

This chapter focuses on two Ethiopian Sharīʿa court decisions related to divorce initiated by the wife (khulʿ) with a focus on the amount and kind of compensation which a wife must pay to the husband in order to terminate the marriage. Sharīʿa courts have a long history in Ethiopia, where Muslims constitute some 30-35% of the population. In the present federal constitution of Ethiopia, the power of Sharīʿa courts to adjudicate disputes is subject to the precondition of ‘consent’ of the disputing parties. The first case presented in this chapter concerns an appeal by the husband for an increased amount of compensation than that decided by lower courts. The second case concerns the court’s decision to accept the decision of family arbitrators to order a wife to pay compensation for the ‘moral damage’ caused to husband by the wife’s demand for divorce.

Keywords

Divorce for a consideration (khulʿ)Wife-initiated divorceDower (mahr)Muslim minoritiesEthiopiaGefiAppeals court.

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Type
Chapter
Information
Islamic Law in Context
A Primary Source Reader
 , pp. 321 - 332
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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References

Primary Sources

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Ethiopian Civil Procedure Code 1965 (Negarit Gazeta: Gazette Extraordinary of the Empire of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, available at https://chilot.me/federal-laws/civil-procedure-code-english/).Google Scholar

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