Man divorces wife of 16 years for converting to Christianity

A Kubwa Upper Area Court, Abuja, on Wednesday, dissolved a 16-year old marriage between Idris Abubakar and his wife Aishat, over his wife’s resolve to change her religion to Christianity. The Presiding Officer, Alhaji Lawal Munir, said Islamic legal system (Sharia) provided that a mere denouncement of Islam by any of the parties automatically dissolved a marriage.

“A case when one of the Muslim spouses denounces Islam and changes religion, the marriage is dissolved,” he said.

Munir held that the petitioner’s directive that the wife should pack out of the house was proper because they were no longer husband and wife. The judge said the only contention was the custody of the four children as their interest and welfare must be protected. He granted custody of the children to the husband because they have been living with the petitioner since their mother abandoned them three years ago.

Earlier, Abubakar, who hailed from Okene, Kogi, told the court that he married his wife, Aishat under Islamic laws as a Muslim in 1998, but she has changed to Christianity. He said their daughter, Kadija Abudullahi, informed him that her mother was always praying in a Christian way and she attended Church services every Sunday.

Abubakar said when he confronted his wife on the issue, she did not deny it and therefore, urged the court to dissolve the marriage. The petitioner, who asked the court to direct Aishat to vacate his house, applied for the custody of the children. He said if the court granted her the custody of the children, who had completed recitation of the Holy Quran and preparing for its memorisation, she would influence their religion.

Aishat, who accepted the divorce and agreed to pack out of the matrimonial home, however, urged the court to grant her the custody of two of the children.

“Abubakar can go with the first two children, a son and a daughter, while I should be in custody of the two younger ones, also male and female.

NAN

And if you are not ready to forsake your father and mother (....and husband in this case) for my sake, then you are not my disciple. I will still urge the lady not to distance herslf from the estranged spouse but to still fight the last straw to bring him to the knowlegd and light of Christ.