Staying in wedlock with a husband who practices religious innovations

17-7-2014 | IslamWeb

Question:

I hv a friend who is married for 14yrs.. After she became more religious, she find out that her husband has a very different mindset about religion. Their aqeedah is also different. She cannot bear living in the same house with the husband because of his ibadah that are Sufi based. What is the ruling and consequence for her to ask for divorce? Will Allah be angry to her for asking divorce? Jazakallah khair for replying.

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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 the husband commits religious innovations that do not take the doer out of the fold of Islam, the wife should advise him first or seek the help of someone to advise him kindly and compassionately; hopefully, he will turn to Allaah in repentance and thus this will put an end to the problem. She should also invoke Allaah, The Exalted, to bless him with guidance.

If he repents and adheres to the Truth and straight path, this would be the desirable objective; otherwise, she is entitled to ask for divorce. In fact, (given his unacceptable practices,) he is considered dissolute at the very least; verily, the husband’s dissoluteness is among the legitimate reasons for seeking divorce as per the Sharee'ah as highlighted earlier. For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 124289.

However, if the religious innovations practiced by the husband take the doer out of the fold of Islam and he insists on practicing them, it is incumbent on the wife to seek divorce even if she has to seek Khul‘ and redeem herself from the marriage tie - by offering her husband a compensation for the 'Khula' agreed to).

For further information, please refer to Fataawa 90526 and 118650.

Allaah Knows best.