As saalam Alaikum My wife is staying at her parents home with out my permission and when i gone to take her home she and her father refused to send with me so i had brought my 2 children from her now 12 days had passed she had not telephoned me nor she inquired about our children my both sons are 2 years below, how many days i had to wait for her in Islam, i dont want to divorce her, i want her to return on her own to my home, but her parents are encouraging her to take divorce is this correct on the part of her parents wht should i do know iam unable to concentrate on any thing iam worried of my chlidren and i dont wanna to marry again i want back my wife, my wife is disobedient and she never respects me and nevr listens me but for the sake of my children i want to adjust with her please tell me whether she will come back to me or not wht step should i take iam waiting for ur kind reply please add me in your duiwas Thanking you As saalam alaikum

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 is His slave and Messenger.

If the situation is as you mentioned that your wife went to her parents’ home without your permission and she has no sound reason for leaving, then she is sinful and disobedient and she loses her right to be maintained by you until she becomes obedient to you again; for more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 90507 and 85402.

Therefore, it is an obligation on your wife to repent from her disobedience and return to the marital home immediately. As far as you are concerned, there is no limit in waiting for her return.

Moreover, it is not permissible for a wife to ask her husband for divorce without a sound reason as we clarified in Fatwa 90676.

Also, you are not obligated to divorce her. What we advise you to do is to seek the help of some rational people from your family and hers to try to reconcile between both of you. If reconciliation takes place, praise be to Allaah, otherwise, it is better to divorce her because if it is not possible to keep her in kindness, then let separation take place in kindness as Allaah Says (what means): {…either keep [her] in an acceptable manner or release [her] with good treatment.}[Quran 2:229]

Besides, if she asks for divorce without a sound reason, you have the right not to divorce her until she gives you compensation as stated by the scholars .

The following matters should be mentioned:

1- It is not permissible for the parents of the wife to encourage her to ask for divorce as this is trying to spoil her marital relationship with her husband [a matter which is forbidden]. If the family of the wife interferes, they should interfere to reconcile or they should stay away.

2- The wife must obey her husband in what is permissible as per the commands of the Sharee’ah; this is clarified in Fatwa 84565.

To conclude, you are permitted to treat your wife as a disobedient wife, and you have the right to ask for compensation in return for divorcing her. Also, you may renounce your rights and keep her as your wife as a way of safeguarding your children.

Allaah Knows best.