Does a Long Separation Amount to Divorce?

Broken home, divorce, separation, split family

Does Long Separation Break a Nikah in Islam?

Name of Mufti: Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi
Source: IslamOnline.net, August 3 2004

Question:

As-Salamu `alaykum. If a husband and wife fight each other and after that they do not talk for 3 to 4 years, does this affect their nikah (marriage)?

Answer:

Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

Dear sister in Islam, thank you for your question, which shows how concerned you are to abide by the Shari`ah in all details of your life. May Allah help us all lead a righteous life based on Islam!

First of all, it should be clear that marriage in Islam is a solemn contract for which the Shari`ah lays down rules and arrangements to guarantee its stability.

The spouses should avoid fighting or divorce as much as possible. If they have difficulties and problems they should be patient and forbearing. They have to try to work out their differences and seek help from their relatives, friends, or professional counselors.

In response to your question, Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi, former president of the Islamic Society of North America, states:

It is not right for husband and wife to break their relations for such a long time. If there are differences, then they should try to reconcile as soon as possible. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) urged Muslims to reconcile their differences within three days. The one who begins the reconciliation receives the greater reward and blessings from Allah.

However a severance due to strained relationship does not affect the nikah, however long it lasts. They are still husband and wife. If the husband does not reconcile with his wife and remains severed from her, she has a right to file for divorce and take a legal divorce through the court.

But if a husband separates from his wife with an oath that he will not have conjugal relations with her, then he has only four months to reconcile. According to the Qur’an, this is called ila’. [In Shari`ah, ila’ means that the husband swears that he will not have sexual intercourse with his wife, either for an unrestricted period or for more than four months.] Allah says, “Those who swear that they will not go into their wives, the waiting period is four months. Then if they go back, Allah is surely Forgiving, Merciful. If they resolve on a divorce, then Allah is surely hearing and knowing.” (Al-Baqarah: 226-227). At the end of four months if he has not reconciled verbally or in action, then the wife has the right seek divorce through the court. And the judge can grant divorce to her.

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Divorce

87 Comments

  1. Hello, I am in a similar situation. My spouse and I have been seperated for 7 months now. I left him because he had a drug problem, was out until mornings on a daily basis, ignored me, put me down, sold drugs, did drugs in our home, and occasionally hit me. We have had a series of issues since we got married. We were seperated for a while because he hit me and my brother called the cops on him, i dont think he really got over that since he blames me for all the misery in his life..

    Currently i see him when he picks up and drops off Kayan, I have slept with him a few times since.. after all he is my husband..

    i have tried to talk to him so that we can work things out ( i dont think he is completely off drugs but doing a lot better) he says that i am the reason for his misery that i did so much wrong to him that everything i have done is unforgiveable and that i need to move on.

    i talk to him and tell him that i understand but he also hurt me he was also never around for his family,, he also put us in danger and all he says is that i am blind to see that i am the reason for all of this and that things will never be the same that the things i did and the way i went back to my family is unforgiveable and that i cannot make mistakes so big and expect to be forgiven or taken back he is not a mockery..

    i just dont understand how a human can be so ignorant to his mistakes and faults and not feel guilty not even one bit. i dont understand how he can go days without seeing his son or even not pay his child support.

    I am still there for him whatever he needs wether it is a drive somewhere or whether it is money or anything..

    i just dont understand and i dont know what to do anymore either. I am tired and exhausted and so hurt ..

    am i doing the right thing by going for divorce? what should i do? he wont talk to anyone and his whole family hasnt approached mine saying they dont want to get involved. now my family has taken action since i am the girl and it is 3eib.

    i dont know what to do.. i love him so much and i just dont understand what his problem is. i fought for him i married him and my family wasnt too happy about it.. they have done many mistakes towards him (talked about him , belittled him etc..) and he has done many towards them (hit me, be littled me , yelled at them.. etc) i seem to be in the middle of this all and now i have a son with this man and he cant get over it.

    • Dear “Confused”, As-salamu alaykum. To me, the issue is not your husband and his problems. His problems are clear. He’s a jerk, a bad man, a bad husband, and a bad father.

      The real issue is you and your problem, which is your attachment to a bad man. Why on earth would you want to be with a man who hits you, puts you down and does drugs? SubhanAllah. Why would you want to get back together with him?

      You are fooling yourself. He will not change, and you cannot change him. Stop trying to control him, and control yourself instead. Make better choices for yourself.

      Divorce this man. Stop sleeping with him. Stop giving him money and driving him around. Take him to court and demand that he pay child support for his son.

      If you want some other perspectives, you can post your question at our sister site, http://www.IslamicAnswers.com. but I’m sure you will get the same response from others.

      Wael
      Zawaj.com Editor

      • Salam sister. I agree with Wael. I was in the same situation like you though not drugs… PLEASE sister, read the Holy Quran and WAKE UP, Know your RIGHTS given by Allah to you and MOVE ON as a nikah cannot work with only YOU doing all the hardwork.. He will ALWAYS BLAME you as I also experienced the same scenario like you.

        I prayed so hard to Allah and asked for strength to do the right thing. I asked Allah for guidance and i finally managed to break free… a divorce is a right of a muslimah in our circumstances and it set you free and inshallah you find peace and happiness again and so will he…. Trust Allah SWT and you will be guided…just like me. Inshallah.

      • @wael. salaamun aleikum, ON YOUR RESPONSE TO CONFUSED how come you are so quick to judge the man. have u listened to his own side of the story? we have to be extremely careful with matters of marriage.

        • Salam abbdullah..
          Dear sir, i said to my wife.dont share our relation with other if share than we will not have more relation..but my wife share our relation with her sister..i say to my wife coz we happy and we not want to share our problms or secret to other but she share with her sister..but i not say that we will not have nikah more..so i want know know my wife in my nikah or not?

          • it is true that sharing problems and happiness even with closed ones can cause problems in the marriage. but sometimes these close relations solve those problems too. just do istakhara before taking any steps.

      • Abdoollah, I cannot talk to the husband or get both sides of the story. I assume therefore that “confused” is telling the truth. If she is lying, then the sin is on her. But if she is honest then her husband is quite simply a bad man and she should leave him.

        Wael
        Zawaj.com Editor

        • Asalamwalekum,

          Wael, it is true you may not be able to have both stories and she may be telling the truth, but one should never judge another person and the fact that you used words as a jerk etc… He may be that or not that is not for you to say. Allah is the most forgiving and most merciful if anyone has the right to badmouth anyone it would be the creator but he does not do that..

          Marriage is very sacred and divorce is the most hatred act towards Allah. It is even stated in Quran if the wife is rebellious strike them lightly, not that I’m suggesting that this lady is or anything but since you said how can a husband hit hes wife then surely Allah would not allow you to strike them in the first place lightly or hard?

          Sister for you I think you need to sit down and evaluate is this the man you are going to spend the rest of your life with?
          Go speak to people outside your circle of friends etc get some non bias opinions. Do you get all the rights you have served from your husband if not then can you get them? if not again then see if can get them and if that is a no again… Then you have tried everything and there is no shame in asking him for a khula…

          But remember even though you love him very much you need to do this for your son and your deen if he’s this bad person then remove him for the sake of allah and allah will give you something much better Inshallah!

          I will pray for you sister inshallah allah will guide you and help ease your problems ameen.

  2. Hello,

    My mother and father have had a bad marriage since my childhood. They have not been on talking terms for more than five years even though we live in the same house. They have had different rooms and I am sure they have not had any conjugal relations for more than five years either since they do not even look at each other. My father is not a successful man and has never been able to hold a job. He does not have any means or the self-respect to look after himself which is why he has continued to live in our house for so long and my mother allows this even though she does not have any talking or other relation with him. He lives almost like a stranger. When we were little, he was abusive towards us and towards my mother and used to beat her and threaten her. I would like to know if his marriage to my mother is still valid or not. I am sure that my father would have sworn to not have conjugal relations with my mother because he was the one who changed his room first.

    • Saad, I’m sorry to hear about your family’s situation. However, a bad marriage does not mean the marriage is invalid. Even though there may be abuse and a lack of love, it does not invalidate the marriage.

      But I am not a scholar and I cannot give you a legal ruling on the matter. Anyway, I don’t see the point of trying to get the marriage invalidated. If your mother wants a divorce, she can request one.

      Wael
      IslamicAnswers.com Editor

  3. We must look at both sides of the story to reach a conclusion and since in some cases it is hard to do that, we will usually make a wrong assumption. A person will not sever sexual relationship with their spouse unless it is for a major cause. This usually involves the spouse betraying the other by having emotional or sexual relationship with someone real close to the other spouse, e.g. friend, sibling, parent, or a person of authority. This is why adultery is listed after shirk and then murder, as the major sins.

    • This is not always the case. Sometimes there is financial wrangling, sometimes a drug addiction, sometimes malicious intent. Not all people have a sound mind or clean intentions.

  4. that’s really the case of MODERN wife and husbands in general, but thanks to Islam that this is not spread yet in our cultures.

  5. my hasband has stoped talking to me for 3 months because of his sister, she is clever and cunning, she just pumps my hasband up of alot of lies and he believes her….i havnt done anything wrong and the worst thing is shes married to my brother and shes got him on her side aswel.shes from pakistan.she tries causing fights and arguments with my mum and other siblings,she does’nt do anything except watch tv,she sleeps all day and if my mum ask’s her for a little help around the house she claims shes no slave!!. we have had enuff of her so my mum wants to send her back as she does’nt have her remain to leave yet.shes also my mum neice.. this is also 1 of the reasons why my hasband wont talk to me.he wants his sister to get her permanent residance in this country..he knows how his sister is towards my mum and ignores it..i also 3 kids..im so fed up…he completly ignores me and we havn’nt had sexual relations for 3 months…im stuck and dont no what to do..

  6. What if the wife asks for a divorce for no real reason, then doesnt ask for the divorce if its going to be a Khula Divorce, but still wants to be seperated and doesnt want any physical contact and wants to live her life alone, but the husband is trying to reconcil. Can she still go to the court to get a divorce after 4 months if the husband doesnt want to give it until the Khula is settled?

  7. Asalam o alaikum i wanted ask is i had a nikah done jus over three years ago but i did not wanted to get my nikkah done due to i did not like the girl but i had to do it for my family’s sake because my uncle who’s daughter i had nikkah done with was creating lots of trouble to my family, but i was not happy with the nikkah i live in different country i did not have any conjugal relation ship never slept with her n did not have any contacts with her in any sence at all with intension of giving her divorce, traditionaly in pakistan some times people jus get the nikkah done but the girl stays at her parents house until the proper traditional marriage is done once it happends then girl goes and lives with the husband but i heard the tradition does not matter as long as the nikkah in done, i have never believed or seen her as my wife, i did not kept intouch with her and i do not want to go along with this nikkah i wanted to know is the nikkah already broken and how would i explain this to my family. Thank you

    • Wa alaykum as-salam brother. What does it mean that you did not believe in the nikah? Were you present when it was done? Did you give your consent? If so, then you are married even without the rukhsati. However, since the marriage was never consummated and you never lived with her, a divorce is quite easy and in fact there is no ‘iddah required. Just give her the pronouncement of divorce and it’s done.

      If it’s your intention to divorce her, then do it now. Do not keep delaying and leaving the poor girl in limbo. She has not done anything wrong, so divorce her and let her go on with her life and maybe find someone else Insha’Allah.

      Wael
      Zawaj.com Editor

  8. Salaams.

    I have a situation with my wife she left me for about one half months because of issues with my family she says that my parents do not accept her and my sister ignores and makes problems.. I dnt like to get involved in those matters and our marriage has been rough ever since… it has been on going i am married for 2 years.. im very confused at the moment because I love her and want to be with her tried calling her back in the first week but she was too angry my parents dont want anything to do with her and I live with them… She asked for seperate accommodation buy my parents are old and sickly she now wants to reconcile but I know its going to be difficult my family says if I take her back they want to move out and i should divorce her instead. Please assist there’s alot of pressure from her to reconcile and from family to divorce. I dnt know wats right and how long many months does it take for marriage to be invalid? I have not pronounced divorce to her as I wish to reconcile.
    Jzk

    • As-salamu alaykum brother Suhail,

      Marriage does not become invalid due to separation. Marriage is only ended by talaq or khul’ah.

      The situation you are describing is very common when the husband and wife live with the husband’s parents. The wife may be treated by the in-laws as a servant or an outsider. Of course her living situation is unhappy. She wants to have her own home, to care for her husband and raise her children.

      I strongly suggest that you get a separate residence for yourself and your wife. That should solve most of the problems. Get a place near to your parents if you feel that they need your help on a daily basis. But it sounds like your sister lives with your parents as well, so do they really need your daily presence in the home?

      There comes a time when a man must move out of his parents’ home and raise his own family. Your parents did it, didn’t they? Now it’s your turn.

      Wael
      Zawaj.com Editor

  9. Hi,

    I was interested in my cousin and we were enganged but after few years when family decided that we should get married, she called me and told me that she had talked with her parents many time that she don’t want to marry me as she liked someone else. We tried at our ends but Pakistani family care much about their respect. As all the familes attached with us knew that we are getting married and we are enganged for 4-5 years so our families forced us that its will get fine when you guys will get married and your understanding will develop.
    When nothing got in favour she called me and told me that she like someone but for family sake we have to get marry and you promise me that you will give me divorce as everything will get calm in family. I promised that ill try my best to give her divorce as soon as possible.minimum in 6 months and maximum in 1 year.
    we didn’t started practical life. i remained out of city all the time and when i was at home.i try not to get interaction with her alone so that she don’t feel comfortable as her feeling were not with me.
    Now from last 1 year she is living in her mother home because of personal reasons. We don’t meet obviously and we had just salam etc when we meet on any function and that is for 1-2 min.

    So is my relation still there? or i have to say in words also to her that i gave divorce? or divorce automatically done as the relation was based on just showing nikkah and on next day of nikkah i promised her that ill give divorce. few months ago she said me that get the papers ready and i todl her that they are ready. although inreality they are not.but ill get them ready asap. but just tell me about my realtion and nikkah status? i think its already finished….

  10. May Allah have mercy on us…
    Iam in the process of getting a divorce from my husband , it’s a stage filled with pain after years from my side trying to solve things out , bad marriage takes out the worse in you ,confusion is there and unbearable life ,separation for long months, no Mawada or sakeena, kids witnessing the horror of this marriage, so ladies try all your best , but still things keep getting worse then a decision must be taken , and I’m taking it now before getting older , and just rely on Allah,we have no option, pray for me please….it’s a very tough time ahead
    Thanks

  11. Hi,
    Will anyone reply to my query, posted a couple of days ago….?

  12. hi all…. i want to ask a question about the validity of a nikah….is a nikah valid if a man lies about his name to a girl at the time of getting married? also, if right after the nikah, the girl goes back to her parents’ house and never sees the man again for 3 yrs, does the nikah remain valid? pls respond…

    • muslima300, on your second question (long separation) the answer is yes, the nikah remains valid. On the first question (lying about his name), I do not know.

  13. Ive been seperated from my husband for a year now. We dont have kids we dont own property or anything i grew up in usa and he in a different country. I am currently in usa. I filed for divorce because he has been cheating in facebook he browses through clubs when im on my period and also lied about being married to someone else. He is not stable he comes to usa then goes back within 3 months…our marriage together has only been 6 months out of the year i gave up studying to go back with him onl to find out his habits r the same. I am emotionally sick and i look crazy to people i throw things and i cant stand standing with him or anything. In all im not looking to get back i dont live in my country i dont know the laws. I filed a divorce here my mom is ok with and my dad is not doing anything but he wants the divorce to happen. Will my divorce through the courts be vaild.

    • Sara, I’m not totally familiar with U.S. divorce laws. Are they the same in every state? As far as I know it’s fairly easy to obtain a divorce, isn’t it?

      Wael
      IslamicAnswers.com Editor

      • yes its easy, you just go to court and file for it and it takes 3 months. if you have kids and assets together takes longer. But my father wants me to divorce but hes not taking action i want to divorce and my husband doesnt want to so i went ahead and took action.

  14. My parents have an on and off fighting relationship. Currently they haven’t talked for a week. My dad says that my mom doesn’t give him respect. My mo believes the same. My mom and dad had a fall out in the car a week ago and they cursed out each other and their mothers and fathers talking about them sleeping around. It is a big insult in our culture and none of them are getting over it. I don’t know what to do in this situation. I do know that my mother is at more fault but I can not say that. None of them are willing to talk. They both tell me their problem and their complaints about each other. Please tell me what I can do in this situation. This problem is consistent they can go up to a month without speaking and this problem has been in place for about 5 years. i I want to find a lasting solution for this problem what should I do??

  15. My husband and I have been nikkah’d for 6 years now but my parents still have not decided on a rukhsati date. His parents have called my mom numerous times but my mom always has some sort of excuse. This is really putting a strain on our ‘marriage’ I love him but the wait just doesn’t seem to end. We don’t have physical relations with each other and we live very far away from one another. Would it be best to just separate?

    • hadia, As-salamu alaykum. The “Rukhsati” is a cultural invention, not an Islamic requirement. The fact is that since you have had your nikah, this man is your husband. Your place is with him. I cannot understand why you would remain with your parents for six years after being married. It makes no sense. And why would you consider divorce if you love him?

      What you should do is pack your bag and ask your husband to come pick you up. Go live with him and begin your married life. You do not need your mother’s permission for this. Now that you are married, your loyalty and duty is to your husband. Your parents have no right to keep you from him.

      Wael
      Zawaj.com Editor

  16. Assalam-o-alaikum,
    I have been married for over 6 months nearly, I had an arranged marriage to someone who is family friends with one of my cousins and we were engaged for 2 years but never spoke to each other or saw each other until a month before the wedding took place and that was very brief messages via text.
    Once we got married the guy I married started to sexually abuse me in the bedroom, he would act all nice to other people and in front of people but when we were alone in our house which I rented for us both he would belittle me and lower my self esteem by saying rude things to me such as I am fat, I am ugly, I can’t do things right and I should do everything he says and not go out anywhere or anything like that. I tried my best to make the relationship work but he got me so depressed and I started to lose a lot of weight even though I am not fat, I was an average weight and size for my height. He wanted me to sleep with him several times each night and when I said I am not feeling well due to cold and temperature he would say it doesn’t matter and then when I started my menses each time for each day I was on my menses he used to check and ask me to show him so he could see if I was lying and still on and when I had bleeding stains and said my body can’t handle all this he used to say I am misunderstanding and it is not his fault in any way it is all my fault for not being as good at it as I should be.
    He is from Pakistan and does not have a visa for UK yet, I have to apply for it as I am in the UK. I told him before he went back he can’t carry on abusing me mentally and in the bedroom but he kept saying that he has a right to do that and I need to change myself and let him do what he wants. Does he have aright to do all this to me? Am I really that stupid like he suggests I am and was it my fault for everything that is happening to me?
    I don’t want to stay in such a relationship anymore if he is going to come back and do all this again. I have not spoken to him for a month since he went back but he keeps saying I need to do his visa and get him here. I am praying and doing dua for Allah to do what is best for us both but I can’t see this relationship working at all.
    My family believe he is a genuine and nice guy as he has never interacted with me much or said anything bad about me in front of my family members.
    They noticed I started to look weak and down but they thought it was work stress I had although my job is not stressful at all, I prefer to be at work so I can not stress over anything at home. I don’t have the courage to tell my family that he abuses me in such ways when I am alone with him… I am upset this is not working as it should but I can’t let him carry on like this for the rest of my life.
    What should I or can I do? Any advice is greatly appreciated.
    Jazaka’Allah Khayr.

    • “Lost sister,” As-salamu alaykum. This man is abusing you. He does not seem to care for your welfare, your health or your pleasure. He thinks only of his own needs and pleasure. He is selfish and uncaring. You have a right to be happy. You have a right to expect that your spouse will treat you with kindness and respect, and will consider your needs as much as his own.

      I suggest that the two of you see a marriage counselor, and not only once but several times. A good marriage counselor can help you learn to communicate your needs, treat each other wish respect, and find a level of sexual interaction that works for both of you.

      If your husband does not agree to that, then sadly I do not see a future for this marriage.

      Also, until these issues are resolved, I think you should not apply for a visa for him.

      Wael
      IslamicAnswers.com Editor

  17. US salam wale kum . i really need help please help me out for this…

  18. Salaam I require some important advice as I really dont no what to do or how to go about my situation. ..

  19. Please help me. I got married a year and a half ago and my husband has no interest in any sort of physical relationship between us, he always makes a excuse like he’s got a headache, backache etc. We hardly had a sex life after the first 10 days of our marriage. Due to this reason aswell as the fact hes never financially supported me or my 8 yr old son we have seperated
    It’s been about 6 months now, he says he can not and will not have a physical relationship with me as it’s not that important but it’s had a effect on me. I feel as if I am living with a na mehraam, he feels like a brother or roommate. He even avoids sleeping in the same bed as me aswell as changing infront of me.
    He says if I want to stay with him I have to accept this
    He never told me all this before we got married, he should have told me he only wanted companionship. We r in our mid 30s. This is my second marriage and I m very stressed I don’t want a divorce but at the same time how do I live the rest of my life like this? There’s no closeness between us, no love, he never gave it a chance to build. Any sort of physical contact is always a NO from him. I feel very unattractive and frustrated around him, he puts me down and yells at me of I ask him for sex, he said I should just b happy I got married again and that I don’t live at home with my parents anymore and tht my son has a father. M too selfish, I want too much? It’s not like he wants to have little sex, I would have worked around that, but he doesn’t want any in the relationship.

    • As-salamu alaykum sister. My guess is that your husband is either impotent, or homosexual. If it’s the first then maybe he is embarrassed to admit it. The good news is that it can be treated. If it’s the second, then there is no future in this marriage. When you consider that he also does not support you financially, I’d say the separation is the best thing, and that you should ask him for talaq.

      Wael
      IslamicAnswers.com Editor

  20. Assalamu’alaikum wrwb

    I met my husband online because I wanted to know him by keeping my chastity. He was nice and charming and wanted to marry me. At that time, I had several options and I prayed istikharah. I saw him in a dream with two children, an older daughter and a younger son; so I assumed it was my answer, so I talked to my parents. They did want him to marry me unless he came to propose directly. He sent his IDs and after he came to our country, he proposed directly and we got married then he brought me to another country where we live now because he has a job here.

    Little did I know, that my parents had been refusing several proposal because some of those men wanted to bring me abroad. Had they talked or discussed it with me, I would have considered to be away far from them like now. My mom told me the day before I left the country and I started to feel regret. However, it is my destiny, written 50.000 years before Allah created the universe.

    I know well if Allah loves someone, He will test him or her to purify his or her soul from sin and even in Qur’an, we cannot say we have faith unless He tests us.

    So, since I moved to this country with my husband, left my whole family and friends and even my dream job, I had started to get tests by tests such as he said to a girl that I was only his friend, or he started to abuse me verbally and emotionally.

    He lost temper so easily, so I gave up my hobby because if he saw me happy to read a book to learn something new, or even to learn a new recipe, he will say things to hurt me, such as I was being lazy or I was using his money for nothing, even though it was for cooking.

    The way he normally speaks to me, he will raise his voice but he will change it so sweet and with a nice tone, if he got a phone call, or if he met someone.
    He never walk beside me, always in front of me. And if he meets non moslem people, he will walk with them and left me behind.

    If he saw me reading, he would say I was being lazy. I was so lonely without family or I have no close friend yet, but he was keeping his distance from me, as if we were a room mate. I even started to think that he was a gay at the beginning of marriage, because he did not want to touch me.

    However, I was patient and I kept doing my best to be a good wife, hoping that my husband will be better if we got baby. So after three years of marriage, I got pregnant, and he started to lost his temper easier than ever. When I was three or four month pregnant, he took a dining chair and hit my head. I thought I was going to die, so I said my shahadah and hoping that my baby would be alive. My head was bleeding, on the back. I was terrified and thought I would need a MRI or CT scan, worried that something bad happened in my brain, because I got headache so bad and I was in a great shock, found out how come a man dare to hit his own pregnant wife with a chair. The next day I went to the clinic, I lied. I said I knocked my head and it was bleeding. Luckily the doctor said it was only the scratched from my head pin. Allah had protected me. So, I tried to forgive him and hoping after the baby will be born, he will be better.

    He had promised me that if he got married with me, he would start to learn to read Qur’an, then he always got angry if I reminded him to learn. Because he made a mistake to read Surat An-Naas and Al-Falaq, sometimes Al-Fatihah, once when he tried to be an imam, either only for me or with the guest. I was soooo embarrassed. He wasn’t embarrassed at all, he always makes an excuse of growing up in the west and never got a chance to learn Qur’an or Arabic, even though he is from Arabic background. Everytime he said that, I reminded him how many new reverts who successfully learn to read Qur’an and even memorize Qur’an. They were born as non muslims, many of them never heard Islam before, especially in the West. Then, he would get angrier and started to lose his control and become physically abuse. So, I was so afraid to remind him about Islam.

    He doesn’t pray at home, but if he goes to the mosque with his friend, he said he prays. If I said he needs to pray five times a day, he would become angry. At the beginning of marriage, he did not pray jum’at because he said he did not get the permission to pray from work. I understand, but it is his responsibility as a moslem man to pray jum’at and he got angrier. So, I stop reminding him and he always talks back that I am better in knowledge than him, etc.

    Finally, I have an older daughter and a younger son, as in my dream after istikharah. However, I felt sooo dry in my marriage. We live as if we are roommate. He asked me to do everything, and he always verbally and emotionally abusive. Then if I start to defend myself, he become violent physically. My children grew in this kind of marriage, and I felt pity to them. But they were so young.

    My husband kept harassing me by saying I only enjoy everything like a queen, he is the one who provide the family and I do nothing, despite the fact that it was me who make sure that the children are healthy, clean, well fed, and I taught them Islam since they were very young. My daughter remember Ayatul Kursi as such a young age and started to read Qur’an, to the point that her teachers were surprise when she started the Qur’anic class in the mosque, because she remembers many Islamic stories about the prophets, some du’a etc. Again, I had to be patient with my husband’s anger, to ask him to register my daughter to the masjid.

    When he knew how famous my daughter, being one of the smartest in Islamic knowledge in the classroom, despite the fact that her father doesn’t even read Qur’an and her mother is not even from real Arabic background, my husband was so proud and started to take my daughter to the mosque and then my son, when he started to study there as well.

    Due to the fact that my husband cannot control of his temper, my children and I lived in a fear. When my children heard his steps on the stairs outside our apartment, my children will run and hide themselves. Still, they were so young so I could not do anything.

    My husband asked me out twice for unreasonable thing. The first one because I gave him a hot tea and I put something under his glass, to prevent the spill, because he drank next to the computer. He got so mad and starts to abuse me verbally and finally asked me out. My children were crying but I left to the mosque. I was ashamed to speak to the imam and my husband texted me to pick up my children, because he took them to the place where he gives a computer course; as if nothing happened. No sorry, nothing.

    The second one, he accused me of adultery so I went straight to the mosque to ask guidance. when my kids came to ask me to go home, I asked them where is their Daddy. I asked them to call their daddy then I will come home. My husband refused, via my children, he said to ask me to come home without even feeling guilty or ashamed or asked forgiveness.
    I asked him to come down, via my children, then when he was on the corridor, I knocked the door of the imam and asked him to come. He refused of course, but then he was ashamed because the imam saw him and asked him to come inside. So we all went inside, with my children. Then I told the imam everything and the imam said to be patient and told me that my husband is from another country so he used to live like that, between husband and wife. I said to him, it is not Islamic. That time, I already learn Tafsir Ibnu Katsir, bought the whole set from my own salary, to quench my thirst of learning Islam, because I felt so dry living with a husband who doesn’t practice. So, I said to imam the story of Aishah RA, and I said what my husband did to accuse me adultery is not permissible in islam. The imam asked me to be patient and that probably it is a matter of culture differences. He said my husband loves me so much, so my husband felt that the imam defended him. Of course the imam knew him, because my husband likes to go to the mosque with his friends, even though he doesn’t pray at home. I knew the imam tried to reconcile both of us again. So, we went home and my husband said that nobody will ever trust me, because all of people know well how good he is, as a husband, a father, a coworker, a neighbour etc. I said to him, Allah knows well who he is, that he can lie or pretend to be good to other people so that people think he is nice, but Allah knows his intention and Allah knows his heart.

    He likes to say I was useless, I could not provide for the family. I said to him, the children were young and they need me. He said the children can stay in the daycare so he put them. Then he said because of my hijab, I would never work in an office or found a nice job, so he threat me and asked me to find a job in the factory and he said he will pay me if I found a job in the factory. I was crying and literally almost begging when I gave my CV away to several stores until I lost my purse, due to the bad feeling so I forgot it. I went back to track it down to each stores or small company where I went to give my CV out and the owner of one driving school called me. He gave me my purse and he said sorry not to hire me. He even mentioned that he is moslem and pitied me.

    I finally prayed a lot that Allah will give me a very nice job or at least a decent job so my husband stop bugging me with his words. He hurts me mentally more than physically. Subhanallah, I finally got a job in a healthcare industry, but it was about two years after, because I finally convinced my husband to let me learn something so I can earn a diploma to find a decent job. I had no choice but to put my children in the daycare, but Allah knows everything.

    One day my daughter came back home from school and gave me a book. This is kind of an agenda for a year, what she should do and who helped her to do her homework or study. She put no one helped her because Mommy was always busy at home after work. I cried when I read that, feeling that I neglect her. But she said that she understood I had to work at home too and could not help her at all, because Daddy will be angry if I sit with her to teach something. What she said is true. Whenever my husband saw me with my children, either playing with them or read something, or teaching them something, he will start bugging me, saying bad things to distract me, as if I was being lazy and I was useless etc. So, my daughter understood what’s happened since a young age. She was on the first grade that time. So young.

    Years by years, finally my son was five years old and oneday my husband took my kids to play in the park with his friend. My son learned the bicycle and my daughter rode hers in front of him, until my son’s bicycle stuck on the rain’ trail and he called me daughter, so my daughter help him out. They both told me what happened, I was surprised where was my husband when it happened. I could have lost him, if Allah destined the train came, I could have lost my son; so I complained to my husband. He got very mad and hit me in front of the children. But that time, I recorded it in my cellphone as a prove. My children started to protect me and asked him to stop his rage. Few days later, when I bathed my son, I found his legs full of blue marks and he said his Daddy pinched him for lying to me about being stuck on the train rail. Astaghfirullah. I took the picture as another prove.

    And since then on, everytime my husband got mad, which is 95% day and night, even without reason, my children started to protect me by holding me, both of them. Since then on, I woke up. It is not normal anymore, if he woke up doing nothing, not even to help me prepare the kids or breakfast, but he yelled at me, saying bad things to me. It is not normal if at 2 am or 3 am, we could not sleep because he started to yell at me to do something that normally we do it in the daytime, a housechore. Because whenever we slept, I cleaned up the apt. And I had been sleeping with the kids, because before having kids, my husband like to sleep on the couch, then when we have kids, I love to hug them and they love to hug me. So, when he came to our room to yell at me at 2 am, my kids too were not be able to go back to sleep again.

    Yes, indeed. It is not normal if the father came home and the children hide themselves. It is not normal for the children to protect their mother. It is the adult who protect the children not vice versa. And it is the father who has to protect the whole family.

    So, I woke up and started to ask for help. I tried to talk to some sisters, at least to have someone who care, but they think it is a normal fight between husband and wife.

    I read online that I have an abusive husband and my marriage is toxic. But leaving him was difficult. My husband kept saying that I did not provide for the family even though I have a job. Then I checked my bank account and found out that he took the money in our joint account, where I have a direct deposit from the company. When I reminded him, he became violent.

    So, since my children started to protect me, I finally went to a social service. At first I called, I lied. Because they are not moslem, and I don’t want them to portrait moslem always bad. So, I found the social service with Islamic background and I went there.

    I got an advice to open my own bank account and if he starts to hit me I have to call the police. But when I came back home, he wanted to hit me, because he asked me where did I go and I had to lie, because if he found out I went to a social worker, he will hit me. He lost his temper and almost punch me, the kids were crying and asking him to stop by protecting me.

    I called the police and they came, but because he didn’t really hit me (just threatened me as usual with his behaviour and words as if he wanted to hit me and the children protected me), the police did not do anything. I felt pity to my children, and I didn’t want them to experience having a cop taking their father to the prison. What a life they will have in the future.

    So, I said to the police that I called them to give advice to my husband to stop being in rage. The police said do not call unless there is a prove he has hit me.

    Since then, my husband used it against me. That if the police did not take him to the prison, he is not abusive. That if he doesn’t leave any bruises if he hit me, he is not abusive.
    But abusive is not always proven and I read a lot of case the women did not report to the police and the abuser got worse.

    The social worker told me to anticipate that my husband will become worse and worse and his rage is more frequent than ever, and she was right.

    I started to take an evening class in a university, one evening per week, so only one course per semester, because my manager encouraged me to study more if I want to advance my career. I am not ambisious in career, but because I cannot stand living with a man who humiliate me as if I am useless, stupid, a burden and cannot get income, I needed to prove to my husband that I am better than what he thought about me.

    So, because I started to study again, I open another bank account and everytime I got a salary, I took some of my money and deposit it to another bank. I called several imam to get their opinion, and they said they need to speak to my husband directly before I decide to move or asked for divorce, because the marriage in Islam is to have a peaceful life, not living in a hell like this with his abusive behaviour. Unfortunately, my husband always refuse to talk to imam or meet any one of them. He said it is me who has the problem, and I have a jinn, loosing my mind or need to see psychology. I got used to listen to these words, since the beginning of marriage. So, I went to an imam who can do ruqyah and he said he will come to the house if my husband agreed. But my husband lied to him, so until now this imam never came to do ruqyah. I said to him, if what my husband said is true, that I have a jinn, I would be more than happy to ask the jinn out of my body by getting ruqyah. But it has to be me and him and even the children or the house. I said to him I want to save the family.

    I came to him after having a dream, the answer of my istikharah again. In my dream, my husband played with some male kids (not ours) and I was watching him in awe then someone knocked the door. A big boy came, teenager and he sat down to play with my husband. Then another person knocked the door and an imam with white Arabic dress, with a black beard came inside. He asked me if I had a Qur’an and I said yes, so I took the Green Qur’an from Mecca which I used to read. He asked me to open the Qur’an and start to read. I asked him which surah? anything? why not asking my husband, because I know how to read Qur’an not him. In my dream I felt the imam wanted to test me, so at the beginning I refused to read the Qur’an. Then he insisted, asking me to read. So I open and he asked me to start reading. I said to him, the surah is very easy, even the kids can read it and memorize it. He said, read. I said, “Are you sure? I can read it. Give me another surat, any surat in the middle of the Qur’an”. He asked me to read, so I read. It was surah An-Nashr. He asked me to repeat the reading three times, and asked me to memorize it three or four times. Again, I said I can memorize it since I was a kid. He insisted again and he said I have to remember it, he reminded me again and again and he walked to my husband but he did not talk to him. Instead he look up and he said be careful with this house at night. That is why I went to the imam who knows the ruqyah and asked him if he could do the ruqyah in our apartment.

    I do not know the tafsir of the dream, but I know surat An-Nasr is about the help and victory. Until now, everytime I feel so overwhelmed by being a single mom, separated from my husband, and if I think back of my past, living with him for 12 years of bad and toxic marriage, I remember this surah and I felt peaceful. I feel that Allah will help me. Aaamiin.

    One day, my husband threatened me again and said if I want to leave, go ahead. I then looked and found an apartment, in the same area, because I want my children can see their father, even though I will be separated.

    When my husband saw my first cheque to pay the down payment for the first month of that apartment, he asked me to go back to him and started all over again. So, I cancelled the lease and I lost that money. But I thought, I need to save this family, and hopefully Allah will give me back the money.

    But then, since he knew I did not have anywhere else to go away from him, he started more violent, day and night with his words or behaviour.

    He woke up doing nothing because he will start to take my children to school around 8 am then he will go to work. He spitted on me one morning, before I went to work, in front of my children. I had to change my hijab and clean my face, before going to work. I was so sad, shock and emotionally broken hearted, so I did not realize when I was crossing the street, the light was changing from yellow to red, and one police came to me and fined me.

    I felt so sick and could not sleep so my coworkers asked me. I lied to them, I said I had to read a lot for my school, so I could not sleep well. I got sick, but I had to keep working. If I stayed home, I was afraid of him. Because he will keep calling me or emailing me or texting me, with his bad words. So, I lost confidence but I keep praying to Allah for the way out.

    I went to another imam with my children, because they did not want to stay with their father anymore during the weekend. I asked if It is okay if I moved just to gain my confidence and thinking over everything. I said I was not ready for asking the divorce, I have no family in this country. He said it is allowed to separate and then thinking over. So, I signed up another apartment, a block away from my husband.

    It has been six months now, I am separated from him. I gain my confidence, I live in peace and now I even forgive him, because I do not want to be stuck with this problem on the day of judgement.

    But, one thing for sure, I do not want to go back to him again. Especially, when I tried to ask his family to remind him, last summer. He asked to take the children to see his parents in his country in Europe.

    At the beginning I did not want to go but my daughter said she wanted to know her family there, but my kids begged me to come along, because they don’t want to go only with their father. So, I paid my own ticket and went to my in laws. His father admit that his son has a bad temper but he could not help me but then he went to his country. Then for another two weeks I stayed with my mother in law and still feel something strange.

    The last Friday in Europe, I went to the masjid with my husband and his brother. As I said, my husband goes to the masjid, but at home he doesn’t pray. That’s what his brothers and sisters do at home, I never saw them praying or reading Qur’an. But then it is not my business. I just thought they live like that so my husband gets this habit from his home, only pray when people notice at the mosque.

    During the sermon, the imam reminded how important to give an Islamic education for our children and he gave one example that it is not normal if the children hide when the father went home. Allahu Akbar. I felt as if I need to do something.

    So, after shalatul Jum’at, I prayed istikharah. I asked Allah guidance, because I believe what Rasul said that there is a moment on Friday, when Allah will answer our du’a. We stayed for a while until ashr or almost ashr, because my husband met his friends and wanted to say goodbye.

    And right away, when we came back, when we had lunch, when as usual my husband family share the bad stories about other people or talk about who got a nice job with a nice salary (I think that explain why my husband likes to talk bad about other moslem, or imam, etc, he got it from his family), I tried to change the topic about what the imam said during the sermon that It is important to teach Islamic education for the children.

    In my own family, it is very normal if we eat together and talk about Islam, or the condition of other moslem in Palestine, Bosnia (when I was young), etc. So, I tried to bring the sermon topic during lunch, to change the topic from backbiting to talking something positive.

    His mom got mad to me suddenly, and then his sister started to yell at me and my daughter cried because then her father started to yell at me with his family against me. I said to them, why they got mad, isn’t true what the imam said? His mom said why I bring that topic, she educated her children well. I said, I was not talking about her. I was talking in general. I realized then, that his family got angry easily.

    Then they started to bring the topic why I separated and took the kids away from my husband. It seems my husband lied to them so they misunderstood.
    I said to them, I cannot live with him always in fear and I move only a block away from him. I even said, I came there to accompany my children so they can see their grandparents and family, even though I did not want to go. And I went because both my children begged me to go with them, because they did not want to go with their father.

    Basically, they defend him to the point that it is not abusive if my husband hit me few times. For them, his bad words and behaviour, insult, name calling, etc doesn’t mean an abuse. For them, abuse is if he beats me every single day. So I told them abuse has different phases and the frequency getting more and more or worse if the victim doesn’t have any help.

    Anyway, I learned that It is not a good idea to continue my marriage with him. However, I could not tell my parents because they are far away and getting older and they had been worried that if I left the country with a strange man, I would end up like this. And now it happens, by Allah’s will.

    Then when we came back, my husband started to send email to my brothers, accusing me of kidnapping the kids and he even texted me asking me back all the money he gave to raise this family and that I owed him at least 10000$.

    I got fed up, and finally little by little I explain to my mom what happened, in order to get her du’a. My parents always pray for me and I need their du’a. When my father heard that I have been separated for 5 months, he asked me (through mom), if my husband ever asked me to come back. I said no. Then he asked me if my husband provide us financially, I said no, because I pay everything from my own pocket now. He gives us a cheque of 300$ per month for child support, but I realized that this money belongs to the kids anyway, from the government. So, basically, he does not support us financially.

    But, for 12 years when I was with him, I had to be ready for his anger in order to ask him buying milk or meat for us. He used to say not to cook in order to save money, but then when I did not really cook, he said I was being lazy. I think he just used whatever it is against me, to make my life uncomfortable so I leave him. Then, I stopped asking him when I got my own salary. I shop for my own. I felt he made my life unbearable so I will leave.

    And now, since I really leave, he doesn’t want me back, even though he said his door is open for me, because he doesn’t change his keys. I came back to his apartment to take my Islamic books which I collected after I got a job and have my own salary, but I did not have time to read because he will start to insult me if I read or study anything, saying I was being lazy and used the reading as an excuse not to do anything, even though I read during the night when the kids were asleep and well fed and the house was clean.

    So now, it has been six months of separation. I remember my Dad said, if he does not provide anymore and does not ask me to go back to him, it means talaq, even though he does not say that in words. I have a right to ask for divorce.

    Is that true? Sometimes I feel tired working then at home I still have to do many things, and my children likes to yell to each other or fighthing now, maybe they learned from my husband subconsciously. But, it is so peaceful living without him and now I start to read Shahih Bukhari, I need to learn something to make myself better. So, I don’t want to come back to him.

    Is it allowed to ask for divorce? Am I divorced or not already? Please help.
    Jazakallahu khairan katsiron.

    • Goodness, sister, I am amazed that it took you so long to leave him, especially after he began abusing the children. Even if you do not protect yourself, you have an obligation to protect the children. Anyway, Alhamdulillah that you are separated from him now.

      As far as I know there is no such law that separation without support means divorce. Divorce requires either talaq or a khul’ah issued by a judge. Ask your husband for a talaq in writing. Islamically it does not have to be in writing but it’s good to have proof.

      Wael
      IslamicAnswers.com Editor

      • Thank you for your answer.
        He never wants to divorce me. He keeps blaming me for leaving him and threatening that he kids will become wild without a father and that my son will join a gang or become a drug abuser, etc. He even wants to visit my family with us (for the second time after married me 12 years ago), saying that my father is old and ill. Then, I never want to go with him anywhere, and I am afraid he will make a scene in front of my family because when he cannot stop his anger, he will start to yell and scream. He did that in a mall, once, until a security guy came with his walkie talkie, probably ready to help me if I asked. It was because my son separate my husband`s hand from holding (and crushing) my hand, while he said he need me to hold his hand because I was his wife, to show people he was my husband. It was so humiliated, not romantic at all, and I began to feel pain and my son separate his hand from mine. He got angry to my 6 y.o son, and began to hold me again. Again, my son separate us and hold my hand instead. This happened again and again and every time his anger became worse and finally he shouted at my son, calling him as a bad son, etc. till a security came.
        So, I don`t want to go with him anywhere, this was what I was afraid of. If I go somewhere as a family, I want to have a normal journey, not scared something like this will happen.
        My family asked me to be patient, not to ask for divorce yet, but I feel I am torn apart, still stay in marriage while I feel I am not even married, that’s why I wrote my story here.
        I am afraid, as my husband always said, that I will end up in the hell, because I am a bad wife. Now he and his family have more reasons to blame me, because I cannot fulfill my duty as a wife while we are separating. But it is better than living with him again.

        Sorry to write such a long story, there were so many things happened during 12 years of marriage and many of them are not being told yet because I don`t want people got tired of reading it. All I need is a clarity. It is still scary to ask for divorce while I live alone without any family except for my two young children with me.

  21. Hi my friend been married just over a year now…

  22. As-salamu alaykum,
    My mother and father have been split up for 4 years but they never divorced, my father wanted to get married again so he did nikah with another women without divorcing my mum is this allowed or is he being selfish.

    • Both. It’s allowed, and he’s being selfish. Your mother should ask him for a talaq so that she can move on with her life. If she refuses, she can seek khulah from the court.

      Wael
      Zawaj.com Editor

  23. If divorce takes 2 or 3 years sisters will be running around for the divorce and still not getting it due to justice system is too slow and poor? What a sister should do in this case? If second marriage also come to that point of breaking up then start all over again to get a divorce from the court? Please explain

  24. assalaam o alakum,

    me and my husband got married four years ago and I have one daughter 3 years. Financial crises was there since beginning but I managed to adjust as I am a working women. My mother in law is a depression patipatient and reacts in a very aggeriseve way which I can’t bear but with the support of my husband I lived in a horrible environment where my sister in law is also not normal. Still I pray Allah for patience and ignored petty issues. Meanwhile I have problems with my husband and we discussed it very openly about not having satisfactory relationship. He is careless and cold doesn’t bother much to take care of small things … than I found him following open websights continues my n I discussed with him that why he is addicted to it yet he failed to fulfill my desire. He remain wake up late at night and lied to me that he is working on some new projects … after several fights we resolved to ignore it and move on … now few days back I again caught him watching porn sights and he hiding things from me and feel betrayed n cheated over and over again…. I remain quite for the sake of our daughter although I can manage to raise her myself As he couldn’t afford and failed to provide basic necessities to me n my daughter. His mother sister and father abuse me n their son as well and blame us for every problem. They all share my washroom without even asking me and freely enter in my room and I don’t find any space for myself .. I’m now facing anxiety and I yel n beat my little 3 year old daughter ofently which I don’t want as I live her very much …but my anger is getting out of control … need advice !!!

    • Nadia, wa alaykum as-salam. I don’t see the benefit of this marriage. You live with abusive in-laws, your husband is addicted to porn, and he does not provide your needs. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to consider divorce.

      However, you cannot beat your little daughter. That is unacceptable behavior. Do you want her to grow up hating you and fearing you? You must find yourself a good therapist/counselor who can help you deal with your anger and not take it out on your child. I cannot emphasize this enough. Your daughter is an innocent and helpless party. It is your job to protect her. Do not become her abuser.

      Wael
      IslamicAnswers.com Editor

  25. Assalam o alaikum.

    I have been seperated from my husband for 5 months now. I wanted to know that when I get a divorce will I have to do Iddah?

    • If the marriage was consummated, then yes, you must have an ‘iddah. In the case of talaq, the ‘iddah is three menstrual cycles. In the case of khul’ah, it is one menstrual cycle.

      Wael
      Zawaj.com Editor

  26. I am Hindu by religion. Got married to a muslim in 2006 and converted to Islam. My husband is not taking care of me. He did illegal activities was in jail for 3 months. He was not working at all and was depended totally on me. I got seperated from him in 2011, how do i get divorce soon. When i filed for divorce in court he replied i am lying and he took care of our matrimonial relation ship which is not true. How can i get divorce soon. Please advice.

    • sonica, I do not know the law in your country. Typically in Islam when a woman wants a divorce she goes to the Qadi (the judge or the court) to request it. You will have to follow whatever procedure is available in your region.

      Wael
      IslamicAnswers.com Editor

  27. I was living with my husband in Chicago for a year in non-immigrant visa. Over the year, I was mentally tortured by him including his mother and physically tortured by him( two times).He blames me for my anger and for not wearing hijab perfectly (though i tried hard). After I came back to my home country alone; my husband restricted me in every way to contact with him. He stopped to pay my living expenses. Even I can not get his current US address to communicate with him & his family is also avoiding me. I heard that his US employer (Motorola Mobility) is filing for his green card . It has become six months separation.What should I do now?

    • tsnm, if you mean how can you get a divorce, you can try contacting him through any means – email, for example – and ask him to give you a talaq. If he refuses you can go to the family court in your home country and ask for a khulah.

      Wael
      Zawaj.com Editor

  28. Hi,

    I have been married to my husband for four years and in the last 8 months we have had intercourse only a few times. I have come to learn he has performed a (promise) ceremony with another woman with an Iman knowing fully well he is currently still married. He states the reason he wants to leave me is he wants a child but he agreed to marry me knowing fully I was incapable of giving him a child. He stated he was ok with this because he has a daughter from a previous marriage. This is the second marriage for me and third for him, but yet he states he has never had intercourse with this other woman but yet I doubt the sincerity of this statements. He states he would not leave me if I could give him a child. I find this very hard to believe. In a fit of temper, I made him leave our home because the level of his deceit was too great for me to bear. I don’t know should I go for the divorce or see a marital counselor.

  29. Hi me n my wife had of late bn arguing a lot.
    And this time round we had a fight, so I apologized for wat happened before
    I left for work, on returning from work I found when she had left. I cried n started praying to Allah help me being her back and to soften her heart n I promised to Allah to change…now my wife I ask for
    5months that that’s the only thing I ask of you.
    Please tell me about story….is she still with me?
    Coz me I apologized n still need her

    • If you are asking whether you are still married, the answer is yes, you are. Send your wife a heartfelt letter and tell her how much you need her. Send a gift as well. Maybe she will return, Insha’Allah.

      Wael
      Zawaj.com Editor

  30. Happy ramadan to all muslims, my name is farida i lost my parents two years ago, i had no one to live with i was alone , people around me adiviced me to get married that its was the best solution. A woman took me to a man named aliyu he said he wanted to marry me, he said he was married twice and he got divorced with them because they only wanted his money, a month later we got married , he gave me a house to live alone and a car. He sends the driver to pick me up and night like twice or three times a week then i leave early in the morning. I found out he had up to 30 wives some he abandoned with kids some he still calls and they meet , after 2months he started treating me badly , he insults me and i also am not allowed to call him by his name buh to call him by sir. He started sometimes when he calls and i dont pick up because i was close to the phone he threatens me , he says things like am an animal he will treat how an animal should be treated, after 2months of our marriage he got married to a 14year old girl , i found out from the girls aunty because she was a frnd. I didn’t tell him about what i heard and about the 30wives i knew about because i was scared . During the marriage procedures of him and the 14year old girl , he stopped calling me and if i didnt call him he would insult me, everyday after i am back from school i call him sometimes he doesn’t pick sometimes he does and talks rudely. There was a day i got back from school , i prepared something to eat then i called him , he asked if i jst got back from school i told him no i got back 30mins ago then he asked why i didnt call immediately i entered the house i told him i had to prepare something to eat , he started shouting at me as usual say am an animal and he was going to deal with me and he was comming to teach me the lesson of my life he will treat me like an animal , i was so scared that i left to a children’s hood frnds house , i sent him a text letting him knw that i felt threatened and i left , he didnt bother calling me or texting i didnt go back to the house and its been 4months now . I told the lady that introduced me to him about it and i told i that i was scared of him and wat he does to me and i told her about wat i heard of his 30wives and his recent marriage she called him and spoke to him then she called me and asked wat i wanted now i told i her i wanted a divorce because I couldn’t be with someone who lied to me and treats me that way so she spoke to him about it and he said his not giving me a divorce and he doesnt care. I really dont knw wat to do please i need help.

    • Farida, I doubt your marriage was valid in the first place. If he truly is married to 30 women, then he could not legally marry you. Furthermore, did you have a proper nikah? Were there witnesses present? Did you have a wali? Were you given a mahr? Was there a waleemah? To be honest, these types of relationships sound more like legalized prostitution than marriage.

      I think you should consider that relationship invalid and be glad it’s over. Cut off all your contact with that man.

      Wael
      Zawaj.com Editor

      • i have a question if two people accepted each other as husband and wife putting hand on quran with one gavah but no haq mehar was mentioned are they are in nikah ? if yes then after one month wife came to know that she ll not surivive a person like him she is going through some unbearable mental torchure and problems with the person but husband refused to divorce her in this state she talked to the gavah who was his husband’s friend he refused to help her also. so what that girl should do to get divorce ?

        • zareen, this is NOT a nikah, and based on what you have written here I doubt if you are married. Nikah requires the presence of at least two adult witnesses, payment of mahr, mutual consent of bride and groom, presence of the bride’s wali, and publicization of the marriage through a waleemah or other means.

          Wael
          IslamicAnswers.com Editor

  31. Assalam Wa Alaikum
    Pls help me as I m married for 22 yrs now and Al hamdulillah I have 2 daughters. My problem is that my wife had an accident 4 yrs back with a severe head injury and has persisting life long nerve problem and permanently on medicine. Unfortunately she has had another road accident 4mths back and now crushed spine injury which is again life long lasting issue medically. This has affected her previous brain nerve problem all the more. Doctors have announced her similar psychic issue.
    Now as a result effects on married life is that there is no sexual relation with her which she never considered so important and after the accidents we have been completely away from each other because of her mental illness after the accident and slightly before the accidents too she has been a kind of disobedient as well as egoistic on particular. Especially after the accidents she has been highly abusive and mistreating my parents and my daughters and myself which has been beyond tolerance. As a result I do not feel like having sex with her due to the issue. I also announced to home members that I do not have the heart to have sex with her anymore and I vl not ever ( kind of Al-Al-ila ). She is always aggressive and abusive to my father asking him to get out of the house over and again. My mother expired last Ramadan and my father is too weak and feels humiliated obviously, besides she is abusive to children and to myself too.
    As a result 4 yrs and 3 months have passed without sexual relation. Sometimes she calls me but I cannot on medical grounds because 3 plates and steel rods in her spinal cord implanted with 8 screws of 2 inches long due to the injury. And I have lost heart to do anything as such with her for her unpleasant acts like she has been insulting me as well and my parents in public effortlessly. I am still ready to absorb whatever humiliation caused by her to me but I seriously I do need a second option as I need happiness too as my right which is impossible with her.
    What shall I do with this lady. Pls advice. I am thinking of a secret re marriage due to these never ending issues of my wife and I also do not wish to announce my remarriage as it will hurt her. I still do not want to break her heart. Pls advice me urgently.
    Pls help me.
    Kind regards and salaams.

  32. I am married to Muslim man but he is not following his faith. I am Christian. So sad that I think my marriage will end in divorce. He has a drinking problem which I believe started from the horrible things he’s seen in his country. Tried my best to be a good wife and mother and after we separated I even offered to pay for treatment when I had extra money. So sad what alcohol can do to a marriage. There is a reason it says not to drink in the Koran because it will make you no better than the beast. It truly can change a sweet person into someone unrecognizable. I grew up in an alcohol free family and that is the life I would like to have from this point on. He doesn’t want to reconcile so I guess the decision is made. I have released most of my anger toward him and I hope that I can wish him a happy life. I have to remember that this is someone that I fell in love with and I can not hold on to ill will even though I slip sometimes.Marriage is not for the weak and divorce isn’t either. I will grieve the end of my marriage because it is the end of a promise. And I hope that I will be lead to be a stronger person.

  33. I am married for 13 years , my husband is a very nice man, very supportive and a good provider and father, we don’t have any conflicts no fights nothing anymore for years, have kids together and everything is fine otherwise. Its just that there is no intimacy for about 8 or more years now years now.
    I did try a lot , he moved to another room, when I moved with him he separated his bed ( he has no physical issue for sure ), it seems like its always me pushing him for intimacy , he never even touch me otherwise so since 8 years i stopped as well as it hurt my ego and i felt so disrespected and since then we live like brother and sisters. I am only in my late 30s,educated good looking person,after so many years I feel I am no more attracted to him as well , somehow I now have started thinking about allotter men who admire me and want to be friendly in other words i who always had a very strong character but a high sex drive as well is now missing the romance in my life and get carried away at times emotionally.
    I am never going to commit sexual adultery (zina) as I fear Allah and also for sake of the kids who still need a sound family and home and for them i have given up my life and stayed in this marriage.However over the years curbing my desire has made me harsh and blunt , I want to feel like a woman again I want someone to be romantically reaching and praising me that make me feel so good about myself. I want to hold someones hand and lean on his shoulder and want him to tell me that I am still pretty and desirable.Divorce isn’t an option for me as my kids are too young and they are happy people, they don’t deserve a broken family just because i need love.
    At his point in life I am so lost ,its so shameful to discuss with anyone and seek help , talking to him is also of no use I have done it a lot of time and he always avoids says there isn’t anything ,I am just over feeling it and blah blah blah and then it goes back to same square and after so many years f being married ( or 2-3 years of being intimate) I am not that close to him to talk about sexual issues so openly i feel shy
    I have now accepted he doesn’t likes me and honestly I don’t want to fall in love with him again it took me lot of painful lonely years to stop thinking about him and all the issues, I have started enjoying my life again , starting feeling love music etc again… i want to tell women move on they will never change.
    However, my question is is there any effect on nikkah ? I don’t know if he sweared by anything but it doesn’t matter he is not going to touch me anyways, can I still go on haj with him ?

  34. As slam o alikum w.r

    I have a question regarding my cousin. She’s been living separate to his husband for good 5.5 years now and when she applied for divorced they said you’re already dovorced and now my concern is, we have chosen a guy for her and they wanna do nikkah but before they do nikkah they wana be make sure.
    Please kindly give us some solution many thanks

  35. Asalaam’Aliykum I have got married last year to a distant relative of my mother’s…I never knew the guy nor had I seen him before. The only time I saw him was when they came for the rishta. We both agreed to marry one another I was happy and so was he. We got engaged everything was going well. Whilst we were engaged he used to take money off myself…I never really thought much of it, I used to see it as he is my husband to be and I will help him out. After we got married the first 3 months were fine, in December I had come to my mother’s house to stay for a week and his family decided that he had to sleep downstairs with his elderly father 4 nights a week…and we had just found out that we were expecting our first child. He had called me whilst I was at my mother’s house telling me this news that he had to stay with his father 4 nights a week…and they were the days where he finished work early…and the 3 nights when he used to finish work late being 3/4 in the morning he used to come upstairs to me….I didn’t like it at all. But I still did not say anything because it was his father…he has other brothers who are older than him and that have been married for over 20 years they never once stepped up and said we will share this duty. It really annoyed me. His sister then had said to him that he shouldn’t have married me and should have married his first cousin. I still stayed quiet and did not utter a word. We hardly spent anytime with each other and the time we did spend his family were constantly calling him asking how long he was going to be what we were doing etc…I felt imprisoned..I didn’t have that freedom with my husband. The worst part was my husband never spoke up to his family saying anything to them about me and him needing time alone or why was his family saying such things about me. As months past I still stayed quiet and didn’t speak up to what his family used to do or say to me….when I used to cook food no one used to eat it they used to make something else and throw what i made away the next day. I told my husband and he just said it doesn’t matter leave it. As I was getting good heavily pregnant these things weren’t helping at all, so I used to say to my husband you need to start speaking up for me, he still never did….I told him on a few occasions that if he wasn’t to change I would go back to my parents house because he wasn’t helping the situation. But I NEVER made that move. Also looking after his elderly father who’s mental state isn’t the best was were hard for me too. Then I had my son on June this year and they all made a big fuss when I went to get him circumcised when I kept his name…his family all said that they should be involved. Which I found weird, they wanted to go with us when we got my son circumcised, so out of respect I asked his elder brother to accompany us. They all wanted to be there when I got his hair cut for the first time and apparently they do a hatham when they cut the baby’s hair for the first time which was new to me as we have never done anything like that. It was coming close to little Eid and I was going to come to my mums house to stay for a couple of week’s…because a few days before Eid she had a major operation on her face done. His sister said to me that my mother should come to pick me up for Eid I told her that my mum is having a operation and she can’t come…so she said well your brother or sister should come..I just said okay. So I told my husband that he need not to take me to my mums and I will tell my brother to pick me up, he said why…so I told him I said that this is what your sister said and what I said to her. He had called his sister saying you shouldn’t have said that to my wife and I will take her myself she swore at him etc…I didn’t know about this until his younger sister came accusing me of separating him from his brothers and sisters I was shocked…I thought to myself why would I do that…she got quite nasty with her words and accused me of all sorts and said a lot to her brother I still remained quiet. I just left it. The way I saw it I was informing my husband as to what I was going to do and I don’t think I did anything gets wrong by telling him that. The week my mother had her operation he did not once say to me I shall take you just for the day to see her, he could see the state I was in..he didn’t once sit with me talk to me or reconcile me that everything will be fine. It didn’t help as I just had my son my mother had a major operation and his family were acting up. My mother had her operation on the Wednesday, they sent her home the next day and on Friday she was admitted back into hospital with chest infection and very high blood sugars. When my sister told me I was crying because it had been a good few weeks since I had seen my mum. I broke down in front of his sister in law and brother who both said to me that I should go that Friday I told them that it’s okay I will go on Saturday after doing Eid here…they insisted that I go, his brother had called my brother and asked about my mum…also told him that I was coming my brother said the same that my husband will bring me down on the Saturday his brother said no she will come down today…so my husband dropped me off on the Friday, he then text me that same night saying “are you happy now” I replied back I haven’t come because of something good my mother is ill..he replied back “you got what you wanted”. Which really upset me because out of everyone he should have been there for me as he also knows what it is like to have only one parent. A week past his family came to my brothers house , saying they want to sort things out between me and my husband, his sister in law and sister accused me of the silliest of things which I was surprised about..things that don’t even matter. Anyway things were sorted and his brother and sister in law said we will send Haris (my husband) back in a couple of days to pick her up, they both need a couple of days to calm down…I agreed to that. The next day his sister in law rang saying we are going to come down tomorrow I said that’s fine and that my mum just wants to speak to me and my husband as she wasn’t there the day they had come to my brothers house. His sister in law said okay…after she got off the phone to me she called my eldest sister saying I had apparently said my mum is going to make some sort of decision….which I never said. My sister shouted at me until she found out the truth. I waited for him to come on Tuesday but he never came..so on the Wednesday I text him saying when are you going to come he never replied back to me….I also asked him to transfer money into my account so that I could buy nappies and milk etc for our son but he never did. Weeks went by he never once called me or text me to ask about our son. I rang him text him saying we need to sort things out for the sake of our son but got no reply from him. It was hard for me to provide for my child so I had no choice but to go to CSA and ask them to help me. So they intervened, he then text me saying don’t go through CSA you won’t be getting much from them and I will pay you £50 a week…as he told CSA he is on low income. I told him that I rather go through CSA because I couldn’t trust him anymore….weeks went by he then messaged me that he wants to see out son I told him that he could but he had to sort things out before he did….he said there are other ways and means about it…so he sent me a solicitors letter saying I never gave him the right to see his son…and that I should pick all my belongings from his house. That letter was a slap on my face I didn’t know where to turn or what to do. So I ended up sending him a solicitors letter stating the same what I had mentioned to him that he needs to sort other issues out before seeing his son. He has accused me of taking money from him and spending it when I hardly used to go out…he has swore at me and let his brothers swear at me too..he has constantly lied about me, I have still stayed quiet and not retaliated to his childish and abusive behaviour. His sister has been going around telling everyone that he is going to divorce her and get married again. I haven’t said or done anything his family have been accusing me of stupid things too. All I have done is offer my prayers and do dua that Allah swt guides him on the right path. He has emotionally and mentally scared me…I sometimes think yeah it is probably my fault I accuse myself of things I haven’t even done. It’s been 4 months now he hasn’t bothered asking about his son if his son needs anything…he said to me why should I give him money this isn’t his house where he lives..so I questioned him what have you done to take me and your son back? All he does is try turning it around on me and saying that it was my fault and I didn’t want to go back to his house…when I had the intention too. I just can’t seem to get through to him in anyway shape or form…his friends are all just like him they tell him the wrong things not the right thing to do. Just recently he has messaged a friend of mine who is white asking who this is..and claiming she called him when she has to even got his number. She had replied back to him asking how he got her number and who he was…he again lied to her she sent me her messages that she sent to him and also her call log…I trust this girl with all my heart I know what she is like and she would never do such a thing as she has a family of her own. When he did this to her it got me thinking who else has he been messing around with behind my back…he has no respect for the mother of his child at all….and all I do is pray for him.
    Can anyone tell me what I should do?
    Jazak’Allah

  36. salam,

    I been married to my husband for just over a year now when we got married he humiliated me in front of his family in pakistan when we went for our walima, he was always out with his nephews there so I stayed with his sisters and mother and he’d come home late, I voiced my feelings to him but instead it turned into an argument on both parts him wanting freedom and me not feeling comfortable with his family without him I mean we had only been married 3 weeks by then. then he did the same thing back in England in front of his niece swearing at me and shouting, embarrassing me verbally abusing me all the time, giving me the silent treatment for not agreeing to do things he wanted which are haram, he pulled my confidence down so much because I’m a big women always have been constantly his mother would tell me all the rishtas he refused because of me, and that I’m nothing compared to them, I should lose weight people are talking, which in turn made me feel even worse listening to it from him and his family.
    in February I found out I was pregnant and when he found out he voiced how we could not afford a child its ok to abort her, even though he work and earns over £1000 a month he is always spending it on cigarettes, eating out and his cars which he’ had 3 in 1 year, but never has money to spend on me clothing ect..
    we lived with his parents who paid for everything even my things but I felt really making them pay for everything he is my husband he should pay so I got a job to pay for my things because my husband didn’t even when I worked he took money off me which I didn’t mind because Its for us not just me but I felt hurt at how he always complained about not having any money when it came to me needing things. while I was pregnant I had no desire to have sexual relations with him and got really sick and one night even though I told him I’m ill,I was crying he had his way with me even though I said no several times there were many occasions of this.
    most of the time I was very unhappy in my pregnancy because everything he was putting me through I slept on the sofa for most of my pregnancy because our bed was too small in a really small room and I had to climb over hi every time I needed to get up and heavily pregnant that was really hard for me to do but after telling his parents and him many times to be compassionate of my needs he still didn’t. then we stopped talking for about a couple of weeks or a month and I had enough so I went to speak to him and resolve the issue and I was 7 months pregnant it was almost time for me too go into hospital for my daughters early birth, anyways I asked him to stop watching his movie and listen to me and I took the laptop from his hands which he took back and hit me with in my face. I packed my things ready to leave and his mother stopped me I wish I left then but Instead I left after I had my daughter I had a c section and he left me upstairs with 1 meal a day because I couldn’t walk properly I could just about go to the toilet. I tried my best to let everything that happened slide and try to make my marriage work but I couldn’t I thought maybe after me having my daughter he would change and become better or something but nope he was as selfish as always I was supposed to rest a lot because I didn’t in the hospital and my c section wasn’t healing properly but in was up day and night with the baby feeding changing ill myself and he held her for 5 minutes and passed her back to me to watch movies all night. since I have left he has not provided or tried to get us back or helped financially.. Ive been trying to reconcile for the sake of my daughter and tried to get past thing but carry on trying to rebuild a life for my daughter but he doesn’t see where he has gone wrong I’m really hurt and confused, and have been trying to get a khula but I cannot afford it due to selling everything I have to get a home for me and my daughter and he refuses to give me a divorce in order for me to move on I keep telling him to be apart of his daughters life but he doesn’t reply I don’t know what to do I’m trying to do what is best for my baby girl who is so innocent in all this she doesn’t deserve this but I cant get her dad to be in her life.. after everything I don’t know what to do… please help and advise me on what too do anyone who has been in a similar situation to me and what they did?and how they islamically raised their child? and how to be strong…

    I know this is a lot but I’m struggling to hold it together need advice.

    jzk

  37. Assalam u alaikum!
    I have a question about divorce of a woman whose husband has run away because he had married her to get nationality. Therefore when he got nationality he abandoned her.Now there is no news about him.But the woman wants to marry another man. But she has to wait for him to get divorced. What should she do in this case.She cannot wait for him.please quote ahadith and Islamic rules regarding the matter.

  38. Assalam o alaikum
    My problem is really complicated. I married to a man in 2011 he was my cousin. I have one daughter. When my daughter was only 2 to3 months old my husband sent me to my parents house since then i have been living with my parents. We didnot have any sexual relation since 2012. In 2013 he told me that he is gay and had relationship with someone else. I tried so hard to stop him but he didnt stop and he is still with him. Last year i told my parents that i want divorce. My parents agreed. My question is do i have to do iddat when i will get divorced or not? as we have not been in sexual relationship since 3 years.

  39. Assalam o alaikum
    I have posted my question before but no one replied so i m asking again. I have been married in 2011 and had one daught err 3 years old. My husband lives i . another city and i live with my parents since my daughter was born. My husband is gay he told me himself. He has a relationship with other man. He told me that after 2 and half years of our marriage. Firstly i tried him to stop doing this but he didnt stop. But instead wanted to divorce me i tried to keep this relation for 2 years but he didnt even finantially support me and my daughter. Its been three years now i want khulah now but his parents do not want to divorce. I am fed with situation now. I have become a mental patient now. I want to move on for my daughter’s sake i want to do some job for my daughter. Kindly reply me want should i do in this situation . Is this right for any homosexual person to lie about his sexuality and got married and if he lied then he should have to maintained his relationship he has a daughter and he doesnt even care.

  40. As slam o alikum ,
    I have got married 2014 till my wedding day my husband didnt kept any physical realtionship with me nor he talks me on my marriage day. later he start blamed upon me that iam not supporting him or allowing me to do so on but this wrong exucse from his side .even he never kept with him also so i asked for divorce that also he not giving me there parents took money with my parents not returning back to us so in that condition wt i had to do nw he telling me after 2 yrs to kept with him n wasting my life. can anyone tell me wt i had to do in this conditon.. they r insist me to take qula but iam asking for divorce so atalst wt i had to do plz tell me .help me out of this prblem

  41. Assalamu alaikum! We need advice please, i have been married for 4years now and Alhamdulillah I am feeling so blessed because he is really a good person and a husband inside and out without any problem with our marriage together with our 2yrs old son. Our issue really is that my husband got married before with an Asian woman 2yrs ago before we marry here in gulf country. My husband told me that he met the woman from online and he went to her country for further marriage discussion, so far in his stay there the woman was showing herself to him as a practicing muslimah so he proposed marriage to her. He also spent a lot of money for her as she had a lot of demands during his visits but for him as a person with good intention it’s not a problem. They got married in a civil ceremony as the woman’s country is not Islamic it was 3 days before his departure. He wish to marry her in Islamic way so in their 3 days of marriage he did not sleep with her until the day that he have to leave back to work with the hope as they planned to process the papers so that the woman can follow him to his country to marry again and live together. Later after few days away from each other with good communication after sending big amounts to her as she demanded required for her processing then he lost contact with his first wife. He tried to contact all the people he could reach to get intouch with her but everybody said they don’t know and they don’t have anymore communication with her too. Couple of days later, he received an email from her stating in general how sorry she is for him as she can’t proceed with him and with their marriage as she is having a European boyfriend and she want to be with that man whom she really inlove with. My husband was feeling so devastated and did not say any words to her in reply but he kept in his heart that after that moment she is no longer and was never even became his wife. Later he search her in social media and saw her posting photos with a European man like husband and wife but he remain silent as they are not also friends or connected to that social media. After 2 years my husband meet me and directly proposed to me too and we got married After 3 months Alhamdulillah.
    My question is, it have been almost 6 years now since my husband got married by civil with that woman and without any communication, is it considerable that they are already divorced? I open their issue because I don’t feel peace for my husband that might risk him on judgement day as I have said he is really mashaAllah. He said that woman he already considered just like as she never became his wife specially for what she did to him and also for saying that she is a revert Muslima but then she did not really. My husband told me many times everytime I opened their matter that by the name of Allah from that moment that woman turn to another man and told him that she can’t live with him he said talaq for 3x. By papers they are married under civil law of the woman’s country which there is no available divorce there also that’s why my husband can’t do anything about their divorce. Could it be considered a divorce already? Please help us achieve peace of mind, jazak’Allah khairan

  42. Sala’o alikum brother. I am just wondering about couple of things please guide me it is crucial for my mother to know. It’s not about me it’s about my brother and his wife.

    They did Nikkah when she was pregnant with his child in her belly. Is the nikkah legitimate? (Logically I don’t think it is because a marriage is between 2 people and being pregnant would not legitimize it).

    10 years of being together so they have 2 kids now. After 10 years they started having problems, She went and did a khula, of course both side of story wasn’t heard. She was granted khula but in between she slept with him on multiple occasions. So now they got back together and trying to work their marriage out and my family wants nothing to do with her because she has done so much towards our family and even towards her husband. The only reason he took her back was because he loves his kids and we also didn’t want the kids to have bad life. So my mother thinks she should do another nikkah is that the proper thing to do? I know they should have done things properly long time ago but this mistake could be continued for the rest of their lives. So what is the proper step for them?

  43. Asalam alaiykum… Brothers and sisters my question is i have been seperate for 8 months from husband we have no feelings nor bondings between us .. he tells me that he will drag me till i go to his feets its isnt my fault i came.. because i was not okay mentally n physicly i was disturbed because of his family behaviour .. i need. Divorce from him but his just draging me well please kindly let me know if m not happy with this relation i see no future with him is it right to do such thing with me ? N m seperated for 8 months how many month do i have to sit in idaat ?

  44. As salamu alaykum. Question is: I am married for 10 years. We have 2 kids Alhamdulillah. But my husband is always out till 2-3 am with his friends. Sometimes with girls. He is not affectionate with me. Is not interested with household. Always annoyed with me. Leaves us for weeks sometimes. And comes back whenever he wants. Finally told me that he has no feelings for me. What should I do?

  45. Asalamualaykum, I have been married 4 years and got married at 18. My husband is 8 years older than me. I have tried in my power do do everything for him. I even left my studies to get a job so he could get his visa. I never saw or spoke to him before marriage as this was an arranged marriage and I didn’t want to speak to him before nikkah. However, despite doing everything I can, he still isn’t happy. I work two jobs to support him, I try to keep his mum and sister happy by calling them every other day. Because he has made it clear that he will not be happy unless I keep them happy. However tgey are very hard to please. I have always shown love to my husband, when he is upset I go and talk to him, play fight with him try to make him laugh. But he has never ever spoke to me about anything. He is always in his phone. Anyway, last year I have two unsuccessful pregnancies, he didn’t support me through both and his mum acted like they were the victims because it was their future generation. And after that I have given up. He beats me and tells his mum I hit him. she obviously swears at me and then blames my mum for my up bringing. This time I decided to stay quiet and only talk when he does. Normally I don’t let silence win for more than 3 days. However this time it’s been 2 weeks and he just doesn’t care. I can’t tell my mum because I don’t like to tell her my problems. He calls his mum and sister and tells them how bad I am and always acts like the victim. What shall I do? Shall I talk to him first? I don’t know how strong I can be anymore. Please help.

  46. aslam’alaikum i am 31yrs old and have been married for 6 years… i dont have any children due to infertility, however my husband has one son from his previous marriage, who he only sees 1 day a week as his ex wife foesnt allow more then that. However i had seperated from my husband for one year in 2014 due to depression caused by his family always nit picking and saying things like “you should re marry because your wife cant have chidren” this went on for a while and inevitably led me down the route of depression as i was always thinking about my inability to have children.. I Have since come bk to live with my husband..its been 1yr now…my husband is a hard worker but his family are on his back to remarry, my husband wants children very badly which is making me feel very depressed as i cannot give him children.. he doesnt want to divorce me but keeps reminding me that he is getting older, as to say hes not getting any younger n he doesnt have children apart from one son who he only gets to see once a week… i am so confused and depressed as i just want him to divorce me and go re marry so he can be happy, so that he can marry someone who can give him children. But everytime i say this i am made to feel bad and told i am selfish. only recently his brother and sister sent me very nasty txt messages where they were swearing and curing me and told me i have lost the right to have a say in there family matters.. i replied but did not swear at them.. i feel like i have no respect amongst his family and feel i shouldnt be here…. i dont want my husband to stop talking to his siblings as that is all he has, as his parents passed away… i love my husband but i also want him to divorce me so he can carry on with his life and remarry and have children something that he craves for…
    p.s my husband is 37yrs old
    please can you help me make sense of this situation and am i right to force a divorce and seperate…
    a part of me knows he isnt willing to divorce because of society but i dont think i can take much more mentally

    jazakallah

    • Samina, As-salamu alaykum. You are in a difficult situation and it is extremely wrong and unkind of your husband’s family to insult you, curse you or make you feel inferior in any way for something that is not your fault. Having children or not is Allah’s qadar.

      Here are some things for you to consider:

      1. Are you 100% sure that you are infertile? Have you seen a fertility specialist? If not, then you should do so.

      2. Consider adoption. There are so many Muslim orphans with no one to care for them. It is a highly meritorious act in Islam to care for an orphan and give him or her a home.

      3. Let your husband marry a second wife. This might give him more children and make him happy. However, the downside is that he might end up spending more time with the other woman, and you might find yourself lonely and neglected.

      4. Accept what Allah has given you. You have each other and it seems you love each other. Your husband already has one child. Many couples do not have more than that. Consider accepting the rizk that Allah has given you, and being happy with it.

      5. Divorce should be a last resort. If this is the option you decide on, do it soon, so that you can – Insha’Allah – remarry while you are still young.

      May Allah make it easy for you and guide you.

      Wael
      Zawaj.com Editor

  47. Slms…I have been married for 4 years. I fell pregnant in Feb and gave birth to a baby girl in september.
    My husband and I live together but we have no relationship. He seems to hate me. He doesn’t want anything to do with me.

    I did admit that I fell pregnant without his consent. I apologised and tried to fix things between us. I realised my wrongs and tried together make them right. I couldn’t take the baby away but I could change in other ways he wanted.

    The whole year he didn’t speak to me properly. Until I have birth then everything seemed to like it’s going fine until I read his msgs to some girl. He told her everything about us. He went and told her how I fell pregnant without his consent and that my food is not nice anymore , that I don’t wanna accept there’s nothing left between us. I read those msgs and confronted him and now after that confrontation his been even more distant from me than before. He doesn’t want to even look at me.

    I haven’t recovered from my c section I go through pain etc but he shows no concern. If I leave he says I can leave but I must leave the baby behind.

    I still want to save my marriage I still try knowing it’s one sided but I want to know if this nikah is still valid. He doesn’t have any sort of relationship with me I’m only here because of my child.

    • Rumi, this man does not love you or care for you, if he ever did. Take your child and leave. Don’t ask your husband’s permission or notify him first. Do it when he is at work or away. Just take your child and go. When you are safely away, contact him and ask for a talaq so you can move on with your life.

      Wael
      Zawaj.com Editor

  48. Assalam o alaikum,
    My name is Fateeha, I am 28 years old and I am married.
    I m in a very difficult situation of deciding what to do regarding my marriage and my family.
    I am narrating the entire situation, if you have any questions please feel free to ask me.

    Me and my husband used to study together, we met each other in 2010. We didn’t date or anything because it was sinful to do like that. We used to like each other. He was having a very good stable financial background as well. He also knew that I will be moving to Canada in 2011 he asked me several times to stay in pakistan, but my family had made some plans for me to settle down in Canada. I moved to Canada and he sent a proposal to me. I was so scared to tell this to my family as my mom has been really strict about all this. I waited some more time to tell this to my family, and my mom was really serious about one of my proposals for marriage. Then I have to tell this to my family , but that year my husband’s wasn’t financially stable, his dad’s business was sold out and his step mom have been creating so much problems for him that he had to leave the house! And he did!
    I was scared to tell this to my mom because she wanted to marry me a financially stable guy.
    Anyhow she agreed upon meeting him up! When he went there he asked my mom to marry me (her daughter). My mom wasn’t ready for all this but they agreed upon if he pass all his exams and want to come here to Canada for a better future. They both were happily agreed.
    Then we got engaged in October 2014, he got a job as well in renowned company as an assistant accounts manager and started earning a salary of 35000 rupees monthly.
    His exams were not all cleared but still we got our nikkah done in dec 2015.
    My husband kept requesting my family for a ruksati, that he want to live with me , he can do odd jobs here but please let us live together, but my mom n bro kept forcing on him that no it’s not gonna happen until n unless u pass ur exams and stuff! I also kept requesting my family that we will manage somehow but they didn’t agreed upon that!

    Me and my husband kept arguing with each other and then I took a step to go see him without letting my family know. My intentions were to show him and realize him that I value our relationship and him upon everything. I went there we had a good time together and I told him that when my parents will come to pakistan they will talk to your family for finalizing the ruksati part.

    They recently went to pakistan and wanted to see him but he kept ignoring them to meet up. And he also stopped talking to me without letting me know the reason why he is doing all this!
    Somehow he agreed upon to see my family, when he went my bro asked him for the documents required for the final procedure of the immigration, he refused to talk about it saying that let’s not talk about it because i can send all the docs later. And presented my family with two options let anam come here n stay with me forever or give me an indefinite time period to think if I wanna come to Canada.

    My mom told him that this is not gonna happen because he agreed upon coming here! But he was rigid and the conversation became intense !
    He asked to call me n confirm what anam wants , I didn’t knew what was the situation and when he asked whether I wanna come to Pakistan. I said i can only come for a month or so but not permanently! He yelled at me and hung up the call!
    After my call my mom n bro asked him for a divorce!
    And he abused my bro and left the place that I m not gonna divorce! If u guys wanna sort this out talk to my family, or those people who were present on the time of nikkah, his maternal side ( his mom got a divorce from his dad and she lives with his grand dad ( nana and Nani)

    Then his uncle called me in to ask what I want , I told them that I don’t want a divorce but I don’t wanna come to pakistan either!

    After all that happened my family called me in and said that don’t be in contact with anyone of them because if u do so or if u decide to stay with your husband, u have to cut all the ties from me!

    After all that happened i still talked to my husband about all this matter! I asked him that I will come but then I will be having no contact with my family! He said thats totally fine with me ! I will do whatever it takes me to keep you happy.

    After his call, I kept thinking about the entire situation, and ice to conclusion that I can’t leave my family, or i can leave them only if he wants to come here! But he didn’t want to solve this problem at all! I asked him for a divorce! He refused and asked me to reconsider my decision and come back to pakistan!

    I have been trying to discuss and sort it out but he didn’t want to talk or discuss this matter!afer few weeks I thought I should rather save my marriage I told him that I will come back to pakistan to stay with him forever. I thought his behaviour might change towards me but he is still the same not answering to my calls not responding, I m the one who has been in contact with his mom n family. But there is no progress from him or his family to resolve the matter.

    My parents want me to get a divorce!

    I am in a situation, I can’t take any decision!
    I have been thinking and depressing myself. I started istakhara and thought to discuss this with you so that you can guide me accordingly what should I do!

    Can you please help me getting through this situation ? Do the divorce occurs automatically after a particular time frame? Or what does Islam or the Quran guide us to tackle this situation.

    Thank you in advance, I look forward to your response.

    Jazak Allah

    • As-salamu alaykum sister,

      This is a difficult question to answer, as the situation is so complicated. So let’s simplify it. You are married now. That man is your husband, and you are his wife. Your future together is a matter that should be decided by the two of you. Neither your family nor his family have any right to interfere or to tell the two of you where to live, where to go, or what to do. So that’s the first thing.

      I don’t know why your husband is reluctant to come to Canada. Maybe he does not want to leave behind the good job he has in Pakistan for an uncertain future in Canada. Maybe he is not confident that he can pass the immigration requirements. In any case, I think you made a good choice by deciding to return to Pakistan to be with him. Perhaps from there the two of you can work out your future together.

      It is unfair of your family to try to blackmail you by saying, “If you go to Pakistan to be with him, we will cut you off,” etc. It’s emotional blackmail and it’s petty and unfair. I understand they are concerned for your welfare, but to come between a husband and wife is a sin. The problem is that they are still not looking at you as a married woman. They are seeing you only as their child. So they do not realize the harm they are causing.

      It’s been some months since you posted this question, so perhaps you have worked it out. Do write back and let me know the current status.

      Lastly, always remember to turn to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala for guidance. Allah will never lead you astray. He will always grant you what is best for your soul and your aakhirah, even when it is not what you desire.

      Wael
      Zawaj.com Editor

  49. Asshalamualikum! We have gotten married 6 years ago. I am staying with my husband. But we have no physical relationship almost 4 years. Because my husband has no interest. What is the Islamic law about this?….please I need answers…. Because I am very upset. I want to know details about physical relationship between husband and wife in the prospective of Islam.. Please help me. I don’t want to stay with my husband.. Is it a right decision??

    • Faria, you absolutely have the right to ask your husband for a divorce. Physical intimacy is a right within a marriage. If one partner is unable or unwilling to fulfill this right, the marriage is unsustainable.

      Wael
      Zawaj.com Editor

  50. Assalam aleikum

    If a man marries and lived with his wife for a week and flew to another country in the hopes he will bring her with him once he is settled and the government of that country allows and he gets his papers. They talk on the phone. After a little while he don’t talk to her that often. he calls her maybe once a week or once in two weeks. besically he lost some kind of interest in her but they still talk and he helps out with bills and expenses. After a year of living without his wife there with him, he meets another girl he falls in love with. but to marry her he has to divorce his wife. he is not able to bring his wife anytime soon that process takes about three more years. he decides to ask for a devorce while promising to her his wife with what she needs as he plans to marry another women. What is you your responce to that situation.

    • Abdulkadir, of course you have the right to divorce your wife if you choose. If you did not consummate the marriage, then there is no ‘iddah. You declare talaq and the marriage is immediately annulled. If you consummated the marriage, then you must go through the standard ‘iddah of 3 months.

      I don’t know what you mean about promising to your wife what she needs.

      Wael
      Zawaj.com Editor

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