A seven-month pregnant woman, Fauziyya Abdulsalam, on Monday insisted on returning the ₦50,000 dowry she received after her husband, Ishaq Idris, formally divorced her.
Abdulsalam had approached a Shari’a Court seeking the dissolution of her marriage through Khul’i—an Islamic form of divorce in which a woman regains her freedom by returning the dowry paid by her husband.
Despite seeking the divorce, she urged the court to ensure her former husband continued to cater for her pregnancy until childbirth.
Idris confirmed that he paid ₦50,000 as dowry but initially appealed to the court for time to reconcile with his wife.
However, reconciliation efforts failed, and on the adjourned date, he submitted a letter pronouncing a single divorce.
Delivering judgment, the presiding Judge of Shari’a Court II, Magajin Gari, Malam Yakubu Abdullahi, held that a woman is entitled to seek Khul’i during her iddah—the mandatory waiting period observed by divorced Muslim women before remarriage.
“I, Yakubu Abdullahi, the Judge presiding over Shari’a Court II, Magajin Gari, hereby dissolve the union between Ishaq Idris and Fauziyya Abdulsalam based on Khul’i,” the judge ruled.
The court, however, advised Abdulsalam to file a fresh suit if she wished to compel her former husband to provide financial support for the pregnancy.
