If a father-in-law is ill and needs financial and moral help and thus does not want his son to call his wife abroad living with him for some period of time, what should the couple do? Should the man obey his father?

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.

In such cases, we advise the husband to try his best to reconcile between helping his father and bringing his wife over. If he succeeds in achieving that, this would eliminate the problem at its roots; he would be dutiful to his father and would serve his interests and those of his wife. Please refer to Fataawa 87019 and 82254.

However, if he is unable to reconcile between both duties and he does not fear for his father's well-being - if one of his brothers or sisters or someone like them can take care of the father - then he should try to convince his father to allow him to bring his wife to live with him. If his father is convinced, this is for the best; otherwise, there is no harm in him bringing his wife and then trying to earn his father’s satisfaction. It should be noted that children are not obliged to obey their parents in all cases; their obedience to their parents is bound by certain limits as underlined by scholars. Please refer to Fatwa 84942.

He is also advised to continue to help his father, to stay in touch with him and to visit him to the best of his ability.

Allaah Knows best.