His wife does not want to live with him
Fatwa No: 104980

Question

Asalam alaikum, I am married person and my wife doesnt want to live with me since last 2 years, i have tried my best but her behave is like she is asking for divorce, i have tried for intercource but no results mean she is not even agreed that i should touch her, she has said that i should marry someone else and free her, once she hae clearly said in front of other person that she dont want to live with me, if i m not giving divorce against her will m i sinfull? or what should i do if she does not wants to be with me?

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

 

If keeping your wife and not divorcing her does not cause any harm to her, then you are not sinful for not divorcing her. However, you should not leave the matter pending like this because the objectives of marriage are not achieved in this case.

A wife is not permitted to prevent her husband from having sexual intercourse with her without a valid reason. If she prevents him without having a sound reason then she is disobedient.

For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 85402 and 85219.

If your wife is truly as you mentioned, then you should endeavour to find out the reasons of her disobedience, and spare no permissible means which can lead to reforming her. The first thing to do is to supplicate for her and seek the help of anyone who may influence her. Then, if things get better, all praise be to Allaah, otherwise it would be more appropriate to divorce her. Besides, you may refrain from divorcing her until she gives you compensation if you are not the one who is the cause for her asking for divorce. For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 89039 and 88007.

If you don’t want to divorce her, you should seek to marry a second wife, but you should not be unjust to your first wife because of her disobedience.  

Finally, it should be noted that it is not permissible for a woman to ask for divorce without a valid reason as clarified in Fatwa 85034.

Allaah Knows best.

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