<![CDATA[The urgency of this study is driven by the dynamics of wife-initiated divorces in Ngemplak, Boyolali, which recorded the highest rate five times during the 2015-2024 period based on data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS). The peak of this escalation occurred in 2024, recording 538 wife-initiated divorces compared to 21 husband-initiated divorces, reaching a ratio of 25:1. This study aims to examine the extent to which religious understanding and practices influence this high rate of wife-initiated divorces. Employing a qualitative method with Annemarie Schimmel's phenomenological framework, this research attempts to observe and analyze the occurring sociological phenomena. The analysis of 30 court decision records and interviews, employment data, gender profiles, and religious infrastructure indicates that the high rate of wife-initiated divorces is predominantly driven by women's increasing financial independence. This independence acts as a catalyst for women's agency to file for divorce when confronted with the degradation of responsibility and the diminishing role of husbands in the household. During such marital crises, religion undergoes a functional shift within the wives' religious experiences. Religion is no longer interpreted as a passive obligation to maintain a marriage that has lost its ideal function; rather, it transforms into a source of religious coping that strengthens moral and spiritual legitimacy in the decision to separate, aiming to preserve psychological well-being and the integrity of faith values. This study recommends the necessity of strengthening pre-marital counseling curricula that emphasize gender equity relations in building family resilience.]]>
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