English translation
Where a missing person’s family has received no news of him and his wife knows that he is alive but does not know in which country he is, the ruling applicable to her is that she must be patient and wait until her husband returns to her, or news reaches her of his death, his divorce of her, or his apostasy. She may not demand divorce before that, even if the period is prolonged, indeed even if he has no property from which maintenance may be provided for her and his guardian does not maintain her from his own property. Unless it is established that the husband’s concealment of his place of residence is so that the judge, if the wife brings her matter before him, cannot compel him to provide maintenance or divorce her; in this case, the judge is entitled to divorce his wife in response to her request.
Arabic original
المفقود المنقطع خبره عن أهله وتعلم زوجته بحياته ولكنها لا تعلم في أي بلد هو ،
حكمها هو لزوم الصبر والانتظار إلى أن يرجع إليها زوجها، أو يأتيها خبر موته،
أو طلاقه، أو ارتداده، وليس لها المطالبة بالطلاق قبل ذلك وإن طالت المدة، بل
وإن لم يكن له مال ينفق منه عليها ولم ينفق عليها وليه من مال نفسه.
إلا أن يثبت إن إخفاء الزوج الموضع إقامته لكي لا يتسنى للقاضي فيما إذا رفعت
الزوجة أمرها إليه أن يلزمـه بالإنفـاق أو الطلاق ففي هذه الحالة يحق للقاضي أن
يقوم بطلاق زوجته تلبية لطلبها.Ask about this article
Guidance based on this article and the Kuwait legal sources available on this platform, separate from the original text.