chapter 6

Mut’ah and Iddah

Post-divorce Payment Practices in Aceh

Abidin Nurdin

Matters dealing with post-divorce payments are not just confined to the prac-
tices of the Indonesian Islamic Courts but are a feature of the Islamic world in
general. In Morocco, a husband who unilaterally divorces his wife is obliged to
pay her mut’ah, sometimes called a consolation gift. The size of the payment
depends on the husband’s financial circumstances and the wife’s social status
(Muzdhar & Nasution, 2003, p. 113). South Yemen laws prescribe a compensa-
tion payment similar to mut’ah, to be paid by the party found responsible for the
divorce. If the husband is declared guilty he must pay (no more than) one year’s
living expenses; if the wife is declared guilty, the amount due must not exceed
the value of her dowry. A similar provision can be found in Turkey (Muzdhar
& Nasution, 2003, p. 78). In Brunei as well, should a husband divorce his wife,
she may request the court to be granted a payment calculated as fit and proper
according to Islamic law, after the judge has heard the testimony of both parties
(Supriyadi & Mustafa, 2009, p. 153).
In Singapore, the religious court has the right to determine the nafkah mut’ah
amount, called ‘maintenance’, which the husband must pay to the wife during
the iddah period,1 and the nafkah mut’ah amount, which is intended to help
heal the hurt of the divorced party. Usually the amount is relatively standard
and is determined through the agreement of both parties. Since 1984 the oblig-
atory mut’ah payment has been set at around 1 USD per day from the wedding
day to the date of divorce. This means, for example, if a couple has been mar-
ried for ten years, and the husband divorces his wife without clear grounds,
the wife is entitled to claim an amount of Singapore $ 2,650 as mut’ah (Hasyim,
1993, p. 116).
In Indonesia, there have been numerous studies concerning this issue by
researchers and scholars. They may be divided into three categories: firstly, fiqh-
based studies (Islamic jurisprudence) norms, without examining what occurs

1 The legally prescribed period during which a woman may not remarry after having been wid-
owed or divorced.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004386297_008

108 nurdin

in practice in court. Syarifuddin (2006, p. 322) as well as Nuruddin and Tarigan

(2004, p. 249) write that amongst the rights of a wife upon talak raj’i (revoca-
ble divorce) is the financial support during the iddah period when she does not
remarry. The amount of supports is similar to the one she received before the
divorce, in the form of food, clothing, and accommodation expenses. Further,
Ghazaly (2006) explains that a wife who has been obedient and good to her
husband during the iddah period following a talak raj’i divorce is entitled to
receive accommodation, food, and spending money from her former husband.
However, a disobedient and ungrateful wife is not entitled to receive anything
(p. 266).
The second category is judicial studies, or studies of payments that employ
ushul fiqh (Islamic legal theory) and the jurisprudence from the decisions of
religious courts in Indonesia. Effendi M. Zein (2004) studies various Islamic
family law matters, including divorce suits arising from a husband’s lack of sup-
port for his family, as well as claims for payment of maintenance and/or lump
sums. Zein writes that there are two possible reasons why a husband may not
pay the required post-divorce payments: he may be unable financially, or he
may be unwilling. In the first case the husband cannot be forced to pay until
his personal financial situation recovers, while in the second case the judge
may seize husband’s property and award it to the wife.
The third category is anthropological-ethnographic studies, namely studies
of post-divorce payments that focus on court institutional practices analyzed
anthropologically. Duriati (2009) says that the practice of making payments
to the wife in the Semarang religious court depends on whether the wife who
files a suit or is happy to forego her rights (p. 65). If the wife files a suit then
the judges must ensure the husband fulfils his legal duties, but if she does not
sue then her husband is legally absolved of any responsibilities. Meanwhile,
according to Sarizal (2012) in the Banda Aceh religious court the judges con-
sider the husband’s financial means when they determine the mut’ah and iddah
payments due. Ihsan (2006) outlined the mut’ah payment practice for a hus-
band employed as a civil servant who divorced in the Takengon religious court
(pp. 51–66). He concluded that the judges considered the following factors in
determining the amount of mut’ah to be paid after their divorce: (1) the hus-
band’s duty to make a mut’ah payment to his wife, and (2) the existence of
statutory stipulations allowing for the provision of mut’ah to the wife.
A further, more complete, anthropological study was conducted by Bowen
(2003) who concluded that the religious court judgements were better appre-
ciated in Gayo (Central Aceh). These judgements played a role in the height-
ened respect for and protection of woman’s material rights. To understand
judicial practice in such matters in Aceh, one can read Salim and colleagues