What is "khula"

n. (context Islam English) A form of divorce initiated by a wife

Khula is the right of a woman to seek a divorce from her husband in Islam for compensation (usually monetary) paid back to the husband from the wife. Based on traditional fiqh, and referenced in the Quran and hadith, khula allows a woman to initiate a divorce through the mutual consent of the husband or a judicial decree. However, differing interpretations of khula exist across Islamic schools of law and regions in regard to the compensation, consent of the husband, role of the court and judge, number of witnesses a woman must have, and the iddah (“waiting”) period, and child custody.