The consolation gift (mut'a) for a wife who sought divorce because of harm

A question whether a woman who asked the judge for divorce on grounds of harm is entitled to the consolation gift (mut'a), in which Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyya answered that the mut'a is at least two years' maintenance according to the husband's means, that it lapses when the divorce is with the wife's consent or comes from her, and that it does not lapse when the divorce came at her request because of harm, since the consent that forfeits it is absent. ¹

The questioner asked about the ruling on the mut'a for a woman who sought divorce for harm: a woman brought a case before the judge asking for divorce from her husband because of harm, so what is the ruling on giving her the mut'a after the divorce, and does her request for divorce on grounds of harm count as consent to the divorce that forfeits her right to it? ¹

Dar al-Ifta explained that the mut'a of a divorced woman is what the divorcing husband gives her to help her and console her for the loneliness of separation, as in al-Kharashi's commentary on Mukhtasar Khalil (4/87) and Mughni al-Muhtaj (4/398). ¹ It noted that the mut'a is obligatory by agreement in a divorce before consummation where no dower was named, while in other cases the majority of Hanafis, Malikis and Hanbalis in one report hold it recommended, by the text of al-Baqara 241, as al-Quduri says in his Mukhtasar (p. 147), Ibn Rushd in Bidayat al-Mujtahid (3/117) and al-Buhuti in Kashshaf al-Qina' (5/158); the Shafi'is hold it obligatory for every divorced woman except one divorced before consummation with a named dower, as al-Ruyani says in Bahr al-Madhhab (9/523), and this is a view of Ahmad chosen by Ibn Taymiyya, as in al-Insaf (21/278–279). ¹ It said no explicit text fixes the amount of the mut'a, but the texts require regard for the husband's means, whether ample or straitened, by al-Baqara 236, so it is referred to custom and an assessment of the husband's condition; al-Kharashi says the well-known Maliki view is that it depends on the husband's condition alone, since the hurt came from him, and al-Buhuti says it is measured by the husband's ease or hardship. ¹

Dar al-Ifta then ruled that the mut'a, whether obligatory or recommended, is conditional on the divorce not coming from the wife or being caused by her, as in khul' or divorce in return for release, and that the jurists of the four schools state that any separation coming from the wife or caused by her forfeits the mut'a, since such a separation forfeits the dower and so forfeits the mut'a all the more, quoting al-Kasani in Bada'i' al-Sana'i' (2/303), Ibn Juzayy in al-Qawanin al-Fiqhiyya (p. 159), al-Rafi'i in al-Aziz Sharh al-Wajiz (8/331) and Ibn Qudama in al-Muqni' (p. 322). ¹ It referred to article 18 bis of Decree-Law 25 of 1929, added by Law 100 of 1985, which provides that a wife in a valid consummated marriage whom her husband divorces without her consent and through no cause of hers is entitled, beyond the maintenance of her waiting period, to a mut'a of at least two years' maintenance, with regard to the husband's means, the circumstances of the divorce and the length of the marriage, payable in instalments if permitted; and to the explanatory memorandum, which noted that making the mut'a obligatory is al-Shafi'i's later view, a view of Ahmad chosen by Ibn Taymiyya, the Zahiri position and a view of Malik. If the parties do not go to court, the mut'a is settled by their agreement. ¹ It said that although the mut'a requires that the divorce not be with the wife's consent, when her request for divorce arose from harm done to her by her husband the mut'a does not lapse, because although the divorce came at her request she was compelled to it to ward off harm, so the consent required to forfeit the mut'a is absent; it cited the Egyptian Court of Cassation, in personal-status appeal 6 of judicial year 63, session of 10 March 1997, that a divorced woman is entitled to the mut'a whether the divorce comes from the husband or from the judge on his behalf, since a wife's resort to the judge for divorce because of his harming her does not amount to consent to the divorce. ¹

Dar al-Ifta concluded that the mut'a of divorce is money a husband pays to a wife he divorces after consummation, amounting to at least two years' maintenance according to his means, assessed by agreement or by the court in case of dispute; it is conditional on the divorce not coming from the wife or being caused by her, so that if it was with her consent or from her side it lapses, whereas if it came at her request because of harm it does not lapse, the consent on her part required to forfeit it being absent. ¹

Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyya published this fatwa on dar-alifta.org as no. 8903, dated 17 March 2026, in the category of maintenance, among the fatwas of the Grand Mufti Nazir Muhammad Ayyad. ¹ The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.