His parents want him to travel with them but his wife refuses
19-9-2006 | IslamWeb
Question:
My mother, father and 16 yr old sister are travelling to UK for my elder sister's nikaah. My father and mother have expressed their wish that I accompany them (they are travelling after several years) and are both above 50. however, my wife say i should stay with her instead of accompanying them because she thinks they can manage to travel by the themselves. My parents want me to accompany them so as to have both moral and physical support. should i accompany them? if yes, what are the rights of my wife in the circumstances? jazaak Allah please reply urgently as i need to take a quick decision, in accordance with islamic principles.
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 is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.
There is no doubt that the parents have a great status in our religion and this is explained in Fatwa 84942.
Therefore, if the demand of the parents contradicts with that of your wife's, then you should put the demand of your parents in priority, and you should travel with them, and your wife has no right to prevent you from doing so.
However, you are obliged to leave for your wife the expenses which you are obliged to spend on her, and you should not leave her in a place where you do not fear that she will be harmed, and you should contact her [once you are away] according to your ability.
Once your need is fulfilled, you should take the initiative to return to your wife. The Prophet 
said: "Travel is a part of punishment, a traveller is prevented from food, drink and sleep, but once his need is fulfilled, he should return to his family." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
Allaah Knows best.