Islamic Ideology Council rules against first wife's right to annul marriage if husband remarries

The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) has ruled that the Supreme Court 2024 decision, which grants the first wife the right to annul her marriage if her husband remarries without her permission, is not valid as per the norms of Shariah.

The CII ruling said, “It is un-Islamic to grant the first wife the right to annul the marriage as a result of solemnising a second marriage [by her husband] without her permission.”

The Council reached the decision at its 241st meeting, presided over by CII Chairman Dr Raghib Hussain Naeemi, on March 25-26.

Last year, the country’s apex court ruled that the first wife has the right to terminate the marriage contract if her husband remarries without her permission.

On October 23, 2024, a three-member bench, led by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, after hearing the petition filed by Faryal Maqsood and others against Khurram Shehzad Durani and others, had issued an 18-page ruling regarding the polygamy case.

Following the ruling, the CII had declared the Supreme Court’s decision to be contrary to Sharia, stating that the matter would be brought up in the council’s next meeting for discussion.

As per the Dawn News, the Working Paper presented before the CII during the recent meeting read that the case in the Supreme Court involved a husband who had entered into a second marriage without obtaining permission from his previous wife, which was a violation of the 1961 Muslim Family Law. The first wife sought dissolution of the marriage (faskh-i-nikah) based on this violation.

The Working Paper noted that the apex court had upheld the wife’s plea based on her husband’s violation of the 1961 Ordinance regarding polygamy. The SC stated that the violation itself was grounds for dissolving the marriage.

However, the CII maintained that in ordinary circumstances, there are only two options for the dissolution of marriage for Muslims: one is khula, and the other is talaq (divorce).

Meanwhile, the apex court in his last year verdict noted that the 1961 Law protects the spouse’s right to seek dissolution of marriage in case of such violations while ensuring that her other rights are also safeguarded.

Recalling some earlier decisions of the council, the CII members claimed that as per the principles of Sharia, males do not need the permission of the existing wife or wives for subsequent marriages. It also noted that the 1961 Law was contrary to Sharia and the males can enter into four marriages at one time, without being answerable to previous wives or any person.

The Council’s members, while ruling that the concerned parties cannot be forced to conduct medical tests for thalassemia or other infectious diseases before marriage while solemnising Nikah, the CII meeting otherwise supported medical tests.

The ruling came in response to the query by various government departments to make such tests mandatory in Nikahnama as it was in some Muslim countries.