Nikah halala is one of the most bizarre aspects of Islamic law. It is a temporary marriage that allows a woman to return to her previous husband after a divorce. If her husband says “I divorce you” to her three times, she can’t return to him unless and until she marries another man, consummates the marriage, and is in turn divorced by the new husband. This is based on the Qur’an. Allah’s regulations for divorce emphasize regarding women that “men have a degree over them” (Qur’an 2:228). This may be why men can divorce their wives simply by saying, “Talaq” — You are divorced, or I divorce you. Such an easy procedure leads to divorces in a fit of pique, followed by reconciliation — and the Qur’an anticipates this and attempts to head it off by stipulating that a husband who divorces his wife three times cannot reconcile with her until she marries another man and is in turn divorced by him: “And if he has divorced her [for the third time], then she is not lawful to him afterward until she marries a husband other than him” (Qur’an 2:230).
“Muslim Woman Marries 65-Year-Old For Nikah Halala, But He Now Refuses To ‘Release’ Her For Remarriage,” Swarajya, October 24, 2018 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):
A bizarre case of Talaq and Nikah Halala has surfaced in Bareilly in which a 65-year-old man who did Nikah Halala with a young woman is now refusing to give her a divorce. Both the woman and her ex-husband are now caught in a fix, Live Hindustan has reported.
Aqil Ahmad married his daughter Juhi to Mohammad Javed in 2010. The couple had two sons. In 2013, following a minor scuffle between the husband and wife, Javed divorced Juhi. However, after some time, Javed and Juhi decided to reconcile and restart their relationship, but in came the provisions of Sharia.
According to Sharia, a divorced woman can remarry her first husband only after she gets into wedlock with another man and consummates the marriage and then gets divorced from him.
An agreement with a 65-year-old man on the condition of divorcing Juhi soon after the marriage was done by Juhi’s relatives. The Halala was performed in November, 2016. The old man, however, refused to divorce Juhi after the marriage, citing non-consummation of the marriage as the reason.
Juhi approached an NGO ‘Mera Haq Foundation’ with her grievance. The NGO tried to persuade the old man to give Juhi a divorce but he remained firm on his stand and said he would go to jail but will not grant divorce.
Now, the couple is caught between a rock and a hard place. Their two sons are worst affected by this turn of events. One of the sons lives with his mother and other lives with the father.
Islamic scholars have advised the couple to go to the sharia court for justice.