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
Sharia whether sharia is compatible with secular forms of government, human rights, freedom of thought, women's rights and banking. The word "sharīʿah" is used by Arabic-speaking peoples of the Middle East to designate a prophetic religion in its totality. For example, "sharīʿat Mūsā" means law or religion of Moses and "sharīʿatu-nā" can mean "our religion" in reference to any monotheistic faith. Within Islamic discourse, "šarīʿah" refers to religious regulations governing the lives of Muslims. For many Muslims, the word merely means "justice," and they will consider any law that promotes justice and social welfare to conform to sharia. Jan Michiel Otto