Verbal divorce has no legal value, SC tells petitioner

E-Paper | March 12, 2026

Justice Sajjad Ali Shah of the Supreme Court on Tuesday remarked that "verbal divorce" has no legal value and a divorce is only finalised after completion of the due procedure.

"Divorce is a sensitive issue; how can it be finalised verbally?" Justice Shah asked while hearing a case at the Karachi SC registry against a woman seeking expenditure from her former husband. The husband had approached the apex court to turn down an earlier ruling ordering him to pay monthly expenditures to his ex-wife.

"Divorce can't be finalised without fulfilling legal prerequisites," said the judge upon finding out that the man had divorced his wife only verbally and did not have any documents to prove the dissolution of marriage.

The SC rejected the man's petition, saying that receiving monthly expenditure after divorce is the woman's right.

Divorce process

Senior lawyer Liaquat Ali told Dawn.com that as per Muslim family laws of the country, a husband, who wants to end the marriage contract, is bound to send a "written divorce" or Talaq Nama, bearing his and two witnesses' signatures, to his former wife. He is also bound to utter the verbal divorce in the presence of two witnesses, the lawyer said.

As per the law, the husband will also intimate the relevant union council about his decision. "According to section 7 of the Muslim Family Law Ordinance 1961, the husband must mention the address of the woman, so the council could approach the woman and subsequently issue a certificate of divorce."

He said that the divorce takes effect after completion of iddat. Liaquat Ali said that the law is aimed at securing the rights of women.

"At least two witnesses are mandatory for divorce, according to both the law and Sharia," he said.

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Desi

Mar 13, 2018 05:00pm

This is BS. as per Sharia, verbal divorce is all you need to end a marriage in presence of two witnesses. There is no such thing as a Talaq Nama in Islam. We need to decide what Islam we need to follow in Pakistan: liberal and modified version or real Islam. Cant move from left to right and vice versa, whatever suits us.

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Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad

Mar 13, 2018 05:11pm

The Supreme Court Justice is 100 percent right. Paperwork is mandatory in all such or similar cases.

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Fried Chillies

Mar 13, 2018 05:15pm

A very good judgement. I hope the ones sitting in India would read this progressive judgment and stance which will help them come out of the clutches of regressive practices

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Salman

Mar 13, 2018 05:59pm

Excellent judgement.

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Faryal shahab

Mar 13, 2018 06:00pm

Best step ever and it should be imposed wholeheartedly in order to save society from the scourage of instant divorces.

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Alba

Mar 13, 2018 06:01pm

Excellent point. Verbal divorce has no legal standing if Pakistan is following English Common Law as it should since that is how thew system has been set up. Both India and Pakistan adopted English Common Law as has the English speaking world.

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Irfan

Mar 13, 2018 06:04pm

Saudi Arabia has the the same system, with procedure nothing happens. Thanks SC.

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Sarfaraz

Mar 13, 2018 06:09pm

@Desi Agreed. But in order to prevent any possible bad intention from either party in future there is no harm in paper work.

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yousuf

Mar 13, 2018 06:30pm

@Desi if there is nikahnama, there must be a talaqnama. it is as simple.

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Abdul Gaffar jamal

Mar 13, 2018 06:37pm

In case of khulla woman or wife has no right to monthly expenditure.

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unshacklePak

Mar 13, 2018 06:40pm

@Desi The people at the time of early Islam were mostly uneducated. Writing was tough as there was no paper. Demanding such would have required a record where all those expensive writings could be kept. There was no department to keep track of marriages either. But now we have paper, digital, and all kinds of means to keep a record. Understand the difference between the intent of the Islam law and it will become easier to see why signatures are now better. Witnesses are required, aren't they? It's because in times past oral tradition was the easiest way to keep records, especially in an Arab setting.

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ahamed

Mar 13, 2018 06:41pm

SC gets out Pakistan from ancient practices on this important issue of divorce. This is 21st century with appropriate judgement and fairness to women.

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asim

Mar 13, 2018 08:09pm

@Desi all SC is doing to prevent any exploitation of either party's right in the garb of Sharia and as matter of fact which is very common in our society.

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Joe

Mar 13, 2018 08:10pm

@Desi You are not living in sevent century where reading and writing was limited to a handful.Today government is required to maintain records of marriage, divorce birth death etc and all are required to be online available . Which world are you living in sir.

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SNB

Mar 13, 2018 08:27pm

I hope Indians learn from this judgement

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waseem

Mar 13, 2018 08:27pm

please do read what Islam says...

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Skyhawk

Mar 13, 2018 09:17pm

Very accurate and flawless judgement by the honourable Judge of SC justice Sajjad Ali Shah. India must learn something from it.

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k k tiwari

Mar 13, 2018 09:22pm

Good judgement

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M.Saeed

Mar 13, 2018 09:34pm

This is 21st century and frauds are so rampant. Therefore women must be legally protected in accordance with the realities of time.

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dabangg

Mar 13, 2018 09:35pm

@Desi You are witnessing a clash between Sharia and modern day. In the US marriages provide benefits like health insurance, loans etc. So you can not switch to Sharia law when it suites you.

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SAM

Mar 13, 2018 10:14pm

Written agreement must be made compulsary for every marraige or divorce. Verbal agreement has no value in present world.

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kabir

Mar 13, 2018 10:14pm

@Desi Marriage is a contract between a man and a woman and how come a contract can be dissolved verbally ?

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The Morning Star

Mar 13, 2018 10:21pm

@Desi : Egyptians follow the, Al Azhar University which has mandated that there is no such thing as triple talaq. This is not new. Only in India was verbal pronouncement x3 considered enough (probably because of Hindu influence giving more and probably undue power to the male). In Islam a marriage is a contract. Aqad as it is called in Arabic just means a contract. I would like people to put in a proper contract as they would like it to be. And Parents please listen to your children.

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Intriguing comments

Mar 13, 2018 10:37pm

@Desi .I know you are sticking to certain fiqa of one sect in Islam which says so. But when a divorce happens in such haste, by saying 3 times in few seconds, later after the man cools down, he think about the ramifications on his children life,his own life, he repent, he says sorry to wife, but than 'nothing'is possible as fiqa blindly in front, ofcourse the 'halala' solution is there, but often after halala the new husband refused to relieve his spouse, even sometimes the spouse refuse to leave new husband. Mostly such guys after divorce in hurry, repent, and together goes to another sect cleric who confirm that according to Hadith no divorce happened , the actual factual procedure is different and take longer time about 90 days or more,and in that time they can rujo ( unite).Recently Indian SC verdict on same lines, and Indian Muslims welcome the decision. Justice Shah has done the same, and this will stop the grave hardships the women in Pak had to face after digital divorces.

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I. Khan

Mar 14, 2018 03:52am

@Desi , How can anyone say that Sharia and all the Hadith and perfectly true and authentic, I agree with Justice Sajjad Ali Shah that "verbal divorce" has no legal value and a divorce is only finalised after completion of the due procedure. Using Sharia a man very easily kicks his wife out just by saying " I divorce you " three times, what about women's rights , do they have any say in such a critical decision that will change their entire life.

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Sailani

Mar 14, 2018 04:12am

@Desi When you get married in front of your family and friends and have a Maulana, who performs the Nikkah and gets two witnesses to sign the Nikkah papaers, that is the proof that you are married. So, in a divorce shouldn't you have legal papers to prove that your are divorced, The same is true with money in the Bank, they will not release your money unless you sign a paper that says that you are withdrawing money.

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Khan Ayub

Mar 14, 2018 06:08am

Divorce is a sensitive issue and strict due process must be made before effecting it.

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Amir

Mar 14, 2018 09:14am

Verbal religion has no value ....tells a human

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