The Rights of Wives to be Divorced in Islamic Law: A Case Study in Yala

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to study 1) the grounds that Islam endorses muslim wives to dissolve marriage, 2) reasons which muslim wives in Yala claimed to dissolve their marriage, and 3) their rights after being divorced and effects of divorce. A questionnaire and interviews were used as instruments of the study. A sample of 50 wives in Yala who used the rights during the three-year period answered the questionnaire while a representative from Yala Islamic Committee Office was interviewed. The data obtained were then analysed using the SPSS for descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentage in order to interpret meaning of the data.

It was found that wives can claim their rights to be divorced when they experience either one or a combination of the following conditions: the husband becomes impotent, not responsible, cruel, is physically or mentally harmful to wife, disappeared, or imprisoned. While considering the causes where wives in Yala used to claim their right, this study found that their husbands failed to feed the family, were aggressive physically and verbally, were drug addicts, respectively. Overall, the divorced affected those who used the right in terms of health, social and economic aspects. The wives should be given living sustenance which include clothes and accommodation as well as sustenance for children after divorce. However, it was revealed that most divorced wives did not get what Islam has sanctioned.