SHARIAsource

The parties were married on 20 August 1995 and had three children. By 2012, however, they had started to quarrel regularly. The plaintiff alleged this was the result of the defendant:

1. having had an extra-marital affair with another woman in 2012, for which the plaintiff had forgiven the defendant, but then repeating his duplicitous behaviour in 2013;
2. having not held down a permanent job, meaning the family's daily needs were often not met;
3. having physically assaulted the plaintiff, for instance, punching her in the head; and
4. often uttering the word 'divorce' when the parties would argue.

Problems escalated in 2014, resulting in the plaintiff leaving the matrimonial home. While the plaintiff initially requested that the court grant her an irrevocable divorce (talak satu ba'in shughra), upon receiving counsel from the court, the plaintiff withdrew her case and sought to reconcile with the defendant.