Does a wife lose her mehr rights if she asks for khula?

Often, partially — but not automatically or entirely, and the details matter. Classical fiqh (based on Quran 2:229) allows a wife seeking khula to offer to return her mehr, or some agreed portion of it, as compensation for the husband's consent to release her — this is the traditional basis for khula, but the Quran's wording is that "no sin" attaches to such an arrangement, not that it is a mandatory forfeiture of the full amount in every case.

In practice, the actual amount returned (if any) is a matter of negotiation between the parties or, when courts are involved, a matter the court decides based on the circumstances — a wife is not obliged under fiqh to give up more than what's fair, and if the marriage breakdown is genuinely the husband's fault, many scholars hold she shouldn't be made to return the mehr at all (which would functionally make it faskh rather than khula, see Q3). Recent South Asian court rulings, including a 2026 Lahore High Court decision, have reinforced that a husband remains obligated to pay outstanding mehr even where khula has been granted, unless the wife has clearly and specifically agreed to forgo it as consideration for the release.

Source: Quran 2:229; Lahore High Court ruling on mehr obligations despite khula (2026); general Sunni fiqh on khul' compensation as negotiable, not automatically forfeited.