A Mufti says that a divorce decreed by a non-Muslim secular court is a valid Talaaq if the husband had made the application for dissolution of the mar

Answer

The Mufti Sahib is in glaring error. The divorce decree of a non-Muslim court is directed at the civil contract, not at the Nikah. In fact, any court judge will confirm that his verdict has no relationship with the Nikah. It concerns solely the termination of the secular civil contract. Furthermore, the judicial decrees of a non-Muslim judge or a secular Muslim judge have no validity in the Shariah. The non-Muslim court has no wilaayat (jurisdiction) over a Muslim.

The erroneous rationale of the Mufti Sahib is that the husband appoints the judge to be his wakeel (agent) to administer Talaaq on his behalf in terms of his instructions. This is palpably fallacious. A court judge is not the wakeel (agent) of any of the parties whose case he has to adjudicate. There is no legal system which accepts the ludicrous idea of a court judge being the agent of any of the disputants in front of him. The Mufti Sahib has not applied his mind in this matter.