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Wife has mixed feelings about husband who neglects practice of Islam

Question

I've been married for almost 2 years and I have a 5 month-old baby. I just found out that my husband had been cheating on me (adultery) since 2 months after the marriage when I was studying abroad and away from him for a few months. When I discovered it, he said he had made Tawbah and that it was his biggest error in life. However, since I've been living with him, my Imaan has become very low. I discovered that he had been hiding a lot of things: he continues to make music although I told him to stop if he wanted to marry me. His Imaan is getting lower and lower; he encourages me to work without Hijab and so on. Mainly, my question is: should I divorce or should I wait and be patient? I really don't know what to do. Sometimes I feel very depressed and sometimes I want to take revenge on him. Sometimes I love him as if nothing had happened. Is it obligatory for me to forgive him? Will I prevent him from entering Paradise if I don't forgive him?

Answer

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions. Your husband has to repent towards Allah from what he committed. The repentance means giving up the sin, feeling deep sorrow for what happened and taking a firm decision not to commit that sin again. You have to force him to make sincere repentance and also help him to be steadfast fulfilling all his rights. If you apprehend that he may listen to the elder family members then you many even talk to them. If he listens to the good advice and gives up the sins then you should be thankful to Allah for His guidance. If he insists on his bad deeds then it is your absolute right to ask divorce from him. You are not to listen to him in leaving Hijab or listening to music and the like. We ask Allah to make your problems easy and guide you to the truth. Allah knows best.

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