Annullment of Marriage

Q: A Nikah (marriage) was performed between a boy and girl in different countries. A condition attached to the nikah was that the boy will move to the girl’s country and will take up an Imamate post there. After the Nikah was done the boy refuses to fulfill this condition. On top of that he says he will never ever give talaaq to the girl. The girl does not want to stay in the nikah, as the condition was not fulfilled. Is the nikah annulled, or does the girl have to get a divorce? The two are living in their respective countries, while the boy refuses to come over to her or to release her from nikah. Please advise.

A: This nikah is not automatically annulled, though it was wrong of the boy not to abide by the conditions, especially when this has caused much inconvenience to people. He should have made it clear before the nikah that he would not be able to come across to the girl’s country. He has to give her talaaq, especially since the marriage was not consummated. Only then will the nikah be over. The girl is acting within her rights to demand that he come over to her country, since she retains the right over herself until the dowry has been paid or the marriage consummated. If he refuses to give talaaq after a while, then the local Ulema should be approached to do a proper annulment (faskh). They will have valid grounds for this.