Does a civil divorce constitute a Shar’ee talaq?

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh

Muslims living in western countries generally have two aspects of their marriage. The Civil aspect and the Shar’ee aspect. It is important to separate the two, as both are not contingent on one another and function independently. Islamically, if a person is married legally and is not married according to the laws of shariah, such a marriage has no standing.

In principle, a civil divorce will count as a shar’ee talaaq, if the husband signed the civil divorce document and also intended a Shar’ee talaaq.

Accordingly, your husband intended a Canadian civil divorce and did not intend thereby to terminate the shar’ee marriage. Therefore, he was intending to remove the civil and legal ties that is between you. He did not intend to remove the bond of nikah. As such, this civil divorce does not count as a shar’ee divorce.

It is important to note that in such a case, your husband is not absolved of his obligations. If he fails in meeting his Shar’ee obligations of a husband, he will be sinful.

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best

Mirza-Zain Ibn Ameer Baig

Student - Darul Iftaa

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Checked and Approved by,

Mufti Ebrahim Desai.

00-02-1441| 00-10-2019