Can I Get a Divorce From My Husband Due to Medical Issues? (Shafi’i)

Answered by Shaykh Abdurragmaan Khan

Question: Assalam alaykum,

I recently got married, two months ago and I found out after a month of marriage that my husband has erectile disfunction and is unable to perform after trying for a month without any change. I also later found out that he knew about it before the marriage and did not inform me or my parents.

Can I get divorced from him islamically without his consent?

Answer: Wa alaykum al-Salam

One of the primary objectives of marriage is the attainment of chastity. Chastity means that both spouses fulfill the sexual needs of the other and thereby protect them from any type of extramarital relations. Consequently, when a lady discovers after marriage that her husband is impotent, she may request from an Islamic court to have her marriage annulled. The judge will then determine whether the husband is truly impotent and accordingly annul the marriage. [Mugni al-Muhtaj]

Given that Muslim minorities do not have Islamic courts, the sister is advised to consult her local Islamic council or one of the leading Imams to facilitate the annulment.

May Allah bless you with that which is most beneficial for you in this world and the next.

Wassalam
[Shaykh] Abdurragmaan Khan

Shaykh Abdurragmaan received ijazah ’ammah from various luminaries, including but not restricted to: Habib Umar ibn Hafiz—a personality who affected him greatly and who has changed his relationship with Allah, Maulana Yusuf Karaan—the former Mufti of Cape Town; Habib ‘Ali al-Mashhur—the current Mufti of Tarim; Habib ‘Umar al-Jaylani—the Shafi‘i Mufti of Makkah; Sayyid Ahmad bin Abi Bakr al-Hibshi; Habib Kadhim as-Saqqaf; Shaykh Mahmud Sa’id Mamduh; Maulana Abdul Hafiz al-Makki; Shaykh Ala ad-Din al-Afghani; Maulana Fazlur Rahman al-Azami and Shaykh Yahya al-Gawthani amongst others.