Question: I am a non-Muslim woman married to a Muslim man, and I have a three-year-old son and a five-year-old daughter. If I want divorce, but without harm, do I have the right, according to the law, to obtain it?
If the court rules a divorce, until what age do I have the legal right to retain custody of my children? Do I have the legal right to claim half of my husband’s wealth? Do I have the legal right to ask the court to apply the non- Islamic law?
Answer : To obtain divorce with or without a reason is a matter related to the court as per its estimation. As a general rule, Article 118 and 120 of the Federal Law No. 28 of 2005 on Personal Status states that if prejudice is not established, the lawsuit shall be rejected, and if the discord is still continuing between the spouses, the aggrieved party may file a new lawsuit and the court shall transfer the matter to arbitrators.
If the two arbitrators fail to reconcile the spouses, the court shall present the arbitrators’ recommendations to the spouses and invite them to reconcile before issuing the judgment of separation.
There is also another way to obtain divorce through filing a suit of Khul.
Regarding the children’s custody, and according to Article 145 of the above law, you have the right to custody until the children reach five years of age.
Should the fosterer be a mother of a different religion than that of the fostered child, her duties shall be forfeited unless the judge deems otherwise in the interest of the fostered child, provided the period of fostering ends upon the child completing the age of five.
You do not have the right to claim half of your husband’s wealth according to Sharia Islamic Law, but if you requested to apply your own law without the husband’s objection and your law gives you the right of this half wealth, then the court might rule this taking into consideration that you have to prove the existence of your own law and its rules.
The law of the UAE shall apply in case the existence of the governing foreign law cannot be established or its context cannot be delimited, according to Article 28 of the Civil Transactions Law.
You have the right to request the application of your own law in case your husband does not object and without prejudice to the provisions of the Civil Transactions Law, according to Article 1 of the Federal Law No. 28 of 2005 on Personal Status.
The provisions of the Personal Status Law shall apply to non-citizens, unless any of them insists on implementing the law of their country’s law, without prejudice to the provisions of Articles 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 27 and 28 of the Civil Transactions Law promulgated by Federal Law No. 5 of 1985.
