I saw my parents' marriage certificate. What struck my interest was that it clearly gave control to the wife to divorce her husband (through a petition with the courts) if he fails to pay her "maintenance" - i assume this is a sum of money or services in kind that a husband is obligated to provide his wife under the syariah. If he doesn't provide her "maintenance" for a period of 4 months, she can go to the authorities and obtain a divorce PROVIDED she can furnish proof as to her ill-treatment.
Now, that got me wondering: how does a woman prove that her husband is not giving her due maintenance? At the end of the day, doesn't it come down to his word against hers? Especially, if the woman is working herself and has her own income, it won't be obvious to the courts that she is not receiving her just rights. What if she's very wealthy on her own accord? There will be very few obvious signs that he has not performed his duty as a husband as required by law in the marriage certificate.
The same burden of proof doesn't apply to the husband. He can divorce his wife at any time for absolutely any reason whatsoever. In fact, he doesn't even need a reason to pronounce the talaq (divorce). An obvious imbalance of power exists. Strange that Islamic law, the syariah, being fair and just, would allow that to be.
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