As Islam gives woman the right to choose her husband it also gives her the right to stay with him or to end the marriage if reconciliation between the two becomes impossible. In this sense, divorce has been legislated in the interest of both women and men without distinction.

Among the popular misconceptions about Islam and its family system, is that the man is the only one who has the right to end the marital relationship, while the woman has no such right. This is completely wrong.

The Shari’ah gives women the right to end the marriage through a number of ways. First, the woman has the right to stipulate in the marriage contract to be independent in the sense that she has the right to dissolve the marriage according to her judgment. In this case, she is entitled to all her rights as if the husband divorced her. She also has the right to obtain a judicial dissolution on the grounds of physical or emotional harm. Moreover, she is also entitled to all of her rights. She also has the right to make Khul‘  [a divorce in which the wife pays an amount of compensation to the husband] but in this case she has to give up all her rights, because there is no apparent reason for ending the marriage and it is unfair to charge the man with the dues.

Many texts refer to the right of the woman to choose separation. For example, Ibn ‘Abbas [raa] narrated, ‘Barira’s husband was a servant called Mughith. It is as if I am seeing him now, going behind Barira and weeping with his tears flowing down his beard. The Prophet [pbuh] said to ‘Abbas, ‘O ‘Abbas! Are you not astonished at the love of Mughith for Barira and the hatred of Barira for Mughith?’ The Prophet [pbuh] then said to Barirah, ‘Why do you not return to him?’ She said, ‘O God’s Messenger! Do you order me to do so?’ He said, ‘No, I only intercede for him.’ She said, ‘I am not in need of him.’ [Al-Bukhari] She chose to leave him when she knew that this was not an order, but advice.

Thabit ibn Qays’s wife came to the Prophet [pbuh] complaining about her marital situation. She stated clearly that she had nothing bad to say against her husband, neither in his manners nor in his religious attitude, she was simply not happy being married to him. Thabit Ibn Qays had given her a garden as a dowry, and the Prophet [pbuh] asked her whether she was willing to return it to him. She said she would return it and so the Prophet [pbuh] told the man to take the garden back and to divorce her once.’ [Al-Bukhari]

This clarifies that women in Islam have the full right to choose their husbands and no one has the right to force her to get married. It also clarifies that she has the right to end her marriage and get divorced as mentioned in the Hadith.