Marriage as prescribed by God, is the lawful union of a man and
women based on mutual consent. Ideally, the purpose of marriage is
to foster a state of tranquillity, love and compassion in Islam,
but this is not always the case. Islam discourages divorce
but, unlike some religions, does make provisions for divorce by
either party.
God provides general guidelines for the process of divorce with
emphasis throughout on both parties upholding the values of justice
and kindness in formalizing the end to their marriage (see Surah 2:
224-237 for general guidelines regarding divorce).
God encourages the husband and wife to appoint arbitrators as the
first step to aid in reconciliation in the process of divorce. If
the reconciliation step fails, both men and women are guaranteed
their right to divorce as established in the Qur'an, but the
question lies in what is the procedure for each. When a divorce is
initiated by the man, it is known as talaq. The pronouncement by
the husband may be verbal or written, but once done, a waiting
period of three months ('iddat) must take place in which there are
no sexual relations even though the two are living under the same
roof. The waiting period helps prevent hasty decisions made in
anger and enables both parties to reconsider as well as determine
if the wife is pregnant. If the wife is pregnant, the waiting
period is lengthened until she delivers. At any point during this
time, the husband and wife are free to resume their relationship,
thereby stopping the divorce process. At this time, the husband
remains financially responsible for the support of his wife.
The divorce initiated by the wife is known as khu" (if the husband
is not at fault) and entails the wife giving her dowry to end the
marriage because she is the "contract" breaker. In the instance of
talaq where the husband is the "contract" breaker, he must pay the
dowry in full in cases where all or part of it was deferred.
In the case that the husband is at fault and the woman is
interested in divorce, she can petition a judge for divorce, with
cause. She would be required to offer proof that her husband had
not fulfilled his responsibilities. The judge would make that
determination based on the facts of the case and the law of the
land. It the woman had specified certain conditions in her marriage
contract, which were not met by the husband, she could obtain a
conditional divorce.
source from
http://www.mwlusa.org/publications/positionpapers/divorce.html
