His wife asks for a divorce for no valid reason

6-10-2009 | IslamWeb

Question:

My wife who recently left to her house with my son on a normal vacation has now sent me an email with the following points saying it to be the reasons for us to get separated and that there is nothing left in our relationship...before departing my home she has left very normal without giving me or my parents any hint of these problems....
01. First reason she states that the moment she has entered my house she has faced frequent humiliation and taunting and due to this she is now suffering from Migraine [ This medical condition was not even least observed during her entire stay in my house]
02. Second reason she states that after delivery i have not taken proper care about her by not sending her regularly for post pregnancy massages.
03. Third reason she says that never ever have i taken her any where for honeymoon even though all her maternal uncles have been sent by her grandparents for Honeymoon.
04. Fourth reason she states that during her entire stay in her parents house she used to have two servants but now in my house there are no servants dedicated to her and that my mother treats her like a maid [ truth is whatever work she does -it's just for me and my mother does 4 times the work for my father and other members of my family]
05. Finally she mentions that though she compromised on my baldness and obesity at the start of my marriage now that i have actually gained 7 kgs she now hates to see me.
Kindly advice me if the above reasons are valid as per Islamic shariah for her to claim a divorcé. also if hey are not valid what is the punishment in the eyes of Allah SWT for such women who claim for divorces without proper and valid reasons ..She has my 6 months old son and while leaving from here did not even give a slight hint of her plans..even after going to her country she used to speak to my mom very friendly for about a month and it was only last week after instigation from her mother that all these things have started..iam feeling misera

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.

 

We previously clarified in Fatwa 85390 that it is prohibited for the Muslim woman to ask for divorce without Sharee‘ah-approved reasons, and a woman who does so deserves the punishment stated in the Hadeeth of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam (mentioned in the same Fatwa). Nevertheless, there are some cases in which it is permissible for the woman to ask for divorce as previously clarified in Fatwa 84309. These reasons include suffering obvious harm.

As for your wife's saying that she faced frequent humiliation and taunting, this is a mere claim which needs to be proved. If such harm is entailed by your family, you can try to deal with it by providing an independent house for her, since this is one of her rights on you.

On the other hand, it is permissible for the Muslim woman to request Khul’ from her husband by paying compensation in return for divorce if she hates him and accordingly fears to neglect his rights. For further information about Khul‘, see Fatwa 89039. Moreover, the husband is not required to take his wife on a honeymoon. As for the maid, scholars state that if the wife cannot serve herself because she belongs to a noble family of high status or she is sick, the husband has to provide a maid for her if he is able to.

Furthermore, it is not the right of the wife to be sent to post-pregnancy massages. Rather, a massage may become impermissible when it involves prohibited matters such as disclosing the ‘Awrah (parts of the body that must be covered in Islam) without a need. Anyway, we advise you to try to deal with the matter wisely and you may seek help of wise people within your family and her family to reconcile between both of you. If reconciliation occurred, it would be fine, but if she persisted in asking for divorce, you may decline to divorce her until she pays compensation that you both agree on.

Allaah Knows best.

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