Annulment of Marriage (Divorce) in Pakistan Through Family Court of Law
- Date modified:
- 2024-03-02
- 12:18 pm
What is Annulment of Marriage?
Annulment of Marriage (Divorce) through Family Court of Law is considered the same as dissolution of Marriage. In Pakistan, It is considered a synonym. Our Divorce & Family Lawyers help you with the Annulment of Marriage if Required.
The annulment of a marriage is a legal procedure that ends a marriage. Legally, an annulled marriage essentially wipes away the existence of the marriage, and this declares that the marriage was never valid. Marriage is highly regarded in Islam as being the only lawful and honorable way of ensuring humanity’s survival. In Islam there are many annulled marriages, including the forced one, as the consent of both parties is required for a lawful marriage. Reasons for annulment of marriage are:
Reasons for Annulment
- Physical Abuse
- Sexual abuse
- Abusive verbal behavior that is extreme and continuous
- Inability to maintain the wife
- An extended period of time when the husband has abandoned his wife
- Conjugal rights are not fulfilled by the husband
- Long-term imprisonment of the husband
- When any of the above scenarios arise, the husband refuses to grant the divorce
Marriage is considered null and void under the following conditions:
Marriage of a Muslim woman with a non-Muslim
In Islam, it is not permissible for a Muslim woman to marry a non-Muslim. Marriage to a non-Muslim has no religious significance. The same holds true for men who do not follow any of the revealed scriptures or who are agnostics. Islam does not allow a Muslim to marry anyone who, despite being from a Muslim heritage, does not recognize the tenets or fundamental beliefs of Islam, or who legalizes what is haram.
If one of the spouses after marriage renounces Islam
A married couple’s marriage is also nullified if one of the spouses renounces Islam after marriage.
Marriage without consent:
When there is no consent, the marriage is null and void. This is because consent is a requirement of marriage. In most cases, marriage without a parent’s consent can lead to the annulment of the marriage unless the father’s objection is simply based on something other than the valid considerations. It is considered invalid to object to a marriage based on race, ethnicity, family status, wealth, or anything else.
Marriage with a Mahram
Marrying a person who has an impediment to marriage, such as close blood relatives who are considered Mahrams (unmarriageable relatives) or milk relations as stated in the verse (An-Nisaa’ 4: 23), is also considered invalid.
Marriage with the intention of divorce
An unmarried couple who marry with the intention of divorcing or who marry for purposes other than those of a valid marriage, such as marriage for legal purposes. Marrying with this intention would be considered null and void.
Conditional Marriage
Conditional or temporary marriage is not considered valid in Islam such as asking a woman/man to divorce her/his husband/wife so that he/she can marry you. By placing conditions in a marriage that are contrary to the purposes of marriage, such as not planning to have children or insisting on not consummating the marriage are also considered invalid. The marriage of a woman during her iddah or waiting period following divorce or death of her husband is also invalid and against the principles of Islam.
Forced Marriage
The majority of scholars believe that, as a general rule, parental consent is a relative condition for a marriage to be valid, in other words, if there was no parental consent, the marriage is deemed invalid. When the objections of the parents are based on other than the Islamic criteria for marriage, then the marriage is valid. Forced marriage is prohibited in Islam since the consent of both parties is a prerequisite for marriage.
Same-Sex Marriage
Due to the fact that marriage is a sacred contract between man and woman, there is no space in Islam for what is commonly known as same-sex marriage. Therefore, Muslim societies do not recognize a secret marriage as valid.
The procedure for annulment is given below.
Procedure for Annulment
- A wife’s application for annulment
- Bringing the matter to the husband’s attention
- Three warnings or notifications should be given to the husband
- When the husband fails to correct the wrongs, he will be asked to issue a talaq
- An annulment date will be set by at least three Ulema
- The couple will be summoned on the agreed date and the annulment will be issued by the panel
- An annulment will also be granted if either party is not present, but they were duly informed.
- An annulment will not be granted if the husband rectifies all the wrongs and injustices
