My marriage is going through bad phase. My wife parents were at my home and they were arguing with me and at one point they returned the Mehr amount to me (my wife was also present that time). Initially I was not taking the cash but later I was forced to take it since I didnt want to have an ugly scene created in the house since they had already created lot of commotions.
My question is does the marriage still stands valid?
A wife-initiated divorce is called khul', and your in-laws seem to be mistaken about the matter. Yes, a payment is made during khul' (ordinarily the mahr is returned), but there's two other essentials:
The wife agrees (in fact, she initiates it).
The husband agrees.
A Darul Iftaa fatwa explains:
Finally, it should also be remembered that a Khul’ agreement can only be carried out with the consent of the husband. The wife does not have the jurisdiction to enforce Khul’ without the consent of her husband. This is an agreed upon ruling in all of the four Sunni schools of Islamic law.
Darul Iftaa
Another point is that khul' is impermissible for no real reason (...if she is seeking divorce for no reason, then that is not permissible... Islam Q&A).
https://archive.org/details/IslamMeinKhulaKiHaqeeqatByMuftiTaqiUsmani
Plz read this book
The wife does not have the jurisdiction to enforce Khul’ without the consent of her husband
