Husband Won’t Pronounce Talak? Your Options in SG

Routes to a divorce when the husband will not pronounce the talak

The steps are broadly the same whichever route you choose:

1. Register for and complete the Marriage Counselling Programme through the SYC Portal.
2. File the Originating Summons for Divorce online within six months of the date of the Court’s issuance email.
3. Serve the Originating Summons on your husband.
4. Attend mediation.
5. Attend a pre-trial conference, where the Registrar gives directions on affidavits and documents.
6. Attend the hearing, or a hearing with hakam if the Court orders their appointment.

Our page on the Singapore Syariah divorce process sets out each stage in more detail.

What is cerai taklik, and when can I rely on it?

Cerai taklik is a divorce based on the husband’s breach of the taklik — the undertaking he gave at the solemnisation of the marriage. Section 48 of AMLA allows a wife to apply to the Syariah Court for a divorce on the ground that the taklik has been breached, and the Court will make a decree if the breach is proved.

The taklik is not something we draft for the case. It already exists, recorded when the marriage was solemnised, and its terms usually deal with matters such as desertion and failure to maintain, or causing harm to the wife.

The standard taklik printed on the Registry of Muslim Marriages certificate of marriage turns on three things: leaving the wife for a continuous period of four months or more, intentionally or unintentionally; failing to maintain her for that period while she remains obedient; or committing an act that injures her body, damages her property or causes her to lose her self-respect. On that wording, the wife must complain to the Syariah Court and her complaint must be proved.

So the first document I ask for is the marriage certificate, to read the exact terms that bind him.

Proof is practical, not dramatic. Bank records showing when maintenance stopped, messages, medical records, police reports and the evidence of family members who saw the position first-hand all tend to carry weight.

What are the grounds for fasakh?

Fasakh is a dissolution of the marriage by the Court under section 49 of AMLA, on a ground recognised as valid under Muslim law. It does not depend on the husband agreeing, on the taklik, or on the wife paying anything.

In practice, the grounds most often raised involve a husband who has failed to maintain his wife, who has harmed or cruelly treated her, or who has been sentenced to imprisonment for a period of 3 years or more. Section 49(1) of AMLA sets out the list, which includes neglect or failure to provide maintenance for three months, a final sentence of imprisonment of three years or more, failure without reasonable cause to perform marital obligations for one year, impotence at the time of the marriage which continues, and insanity or a chronic disease that makes continuing the marriage injurious to her.

Fasakh cases are evidence-led. The Court will hear your sworn account and that of your witnesses, and the more contemporaneous the records are, the better.

I often hear that a wife who files fasakh is “giving up” her claims. That is not how I see it. Your financial claims are dealt with as ancillary matters at the same hearing, and they turn on the facts and the Court’s assessment, not on a rumour about which box you ticked.

What is Khuluk?

Khuluk, also known as redemption, is when the wife makes a payment of an agreed amount for the pronouncement of talak by the husband. In practice, this is rarely relied upon. Even if the husband does not wish to pronounce talak, the matter may be referred to the hakam, who may pronounce a divorce if they are of the joint opinion that the parties should be divorced.

In the rare case that khuluk was relied upon, the agreed sum was a nominal $10. It should also be noted that in the case of khuluk, the wife is still entitled to mutaah. As for nafkah iddah, the matter is not so clear, precisely because khuluk is rarely invoked in the courts. 

What happens if my husband does not attend the Syariah Court hearings?

Non-attendance slows a case down; it does not end it. The Syariah Court can proceed once it is satisfied that he has been properly served.

If he cannot be located, the first task is service. We look at his last known address, his workplace, family contact points, and whether the Court should be asked to allow another mode of service.

The Originating Summons may be served personally, by registered post, through the SYC Portal or by a substituted mode of service, and service has to be effected within 12 months of the filing being accepted. A substituted mode is applied for by summons supported by an affidavit, which is where your record of the attempts made matters.

Keep a record of every attempt to reach him. Those attempts become the evidence that supports the application.

What is hakam, and when does the Syariah Court appoint arbitrators?

Hakam are marital conciliators — one appointed for each party from the Syariah Court’s Panel of Hakam. Where the divorce itself is contested, the Court may order their appointment to try for reconciliation, or to facilitate an amicable parting if reconciliation is not possible.

This is the part many wives do not know about. Each party signs a form authorising the hakam, including to pronounce a divorce. Even if the hakam cannot obtain that authority, they may still pronounce a divorce if they are of the joint opinion that the parties should be divorced.

In other words, a husband who withholds his authority does not automatically stop the process.

Do I still get mutaah, nafkah iddah and a share of the assets if the divorce is not by talak?

Yes, these claims are still before the Court. At the hearing, the Syariah Court decides the ancillary matters as well as the divorce: custody, care and control of and access to the children, nafkah iddah, mutaah, and the division of matrimonial assets.

What changes between the routes is emphasis, not entitlement in principle. The Court looks at the circumstances of the marriage and its breakdown, the parties’ means, and the contributions each made.

Khuluk is the exception to watch, because the wife offers a redemption sum to obtain the divorce. If you are considering it, read our explanation of divorce by khuluk before you agree to a figure, and our guide to what mutaah is and how it is assessed.

If you are also facing family violence, a personal protection order under the Women’s Charter is a separate application in the Family Justice Courts and can run alongside the Syariah Court case. Section 3 of the Women’s Charter applies the Act to all persons in Singapore, and the parts it disapplies to Muslim marriages do not include the family violence provisions.

Frequently asked questions