Khul' they believe to be valid reasons for divorce. Views on role of the court and judge varies across schools, depending on whether or not the divorce is considered a type of talaq (husband's repudiation of the marriage) or judicial annulment. If the husband does not consent to the divorce, a woman often goes to a mediating third party, such as an imam. Only a person versed in Islamic law i.e. a qadi, or Islamic Sharia court judge, can grant the khulʿ without the husband’s consent. When petition for khulʿ is taken to the Sharia courts, a judge is permitted to
Religious law as to what exactly it entails. Modernists, traditionalists and fundamentalists all hold different views of sharia, as do adherents to different schools of Islamic thought and scholarship. Different countries, societies and cultures have varying interpretations of sharia as well. Sharia deals with many topics addressed by secular law, including crime, politics and economics, as well as personal matters such as sexual intercourse, hygiene, diet, prayer, and fasting. Where it has official status, sharia is applied by Islamic judges, or qadis. The imam has varying responsibilities depending on the interpretation of sharia; while the term is commonly used to refer to