Husband commits adultery.
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
(May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)
One of our brothers/sisters has asked
this question:
Me and
my husband have been married now for 3 years and we have a 2 year old son. I
recently found out that my husband was having an affair which had been going on
for a while. I want to know whether this infidelty is reason enough for me to
be allowed a divorce from him. I have kept evidence of this affair. Will this
be enough....? If i do not decide to divorce him i want to know will he be
forgiven by allah and what does he have to do to get this forgivness?
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Answer:
Husband commits
adultery
In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His
help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide,
and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear
witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear
witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His
Messengers.
Your
Question: …I want to know whether this infidelty is reason enough for me to be
allowed a divorce from him.
To answer your question directly, the infidelity or the
committing of the abomination of ‘zina’ would be more than enough reason for
one to seek a divorce in the marriage.
Respected sister in Islam, the time to thoroughly satisfy
oneself with the character and the practice of religion of one’s husband is
before one agrees to marry such a person, nor after one has married him! If you or your guardians did not take the
required striving to investigate or had prior knowledge of your husband’s
negligence in his practice of the ‘deen’, and you still chose to marry the
person ….then obviously you have chosen to put yourself in a trial with your
own hands and you have no one to blame but yourself for the condition you find
yourself in!
If you believe that your husband fears Allah and the Last
Day in some corner of his heart, but was swayed by emotion or circumstances to
transgress the prescribed Boundaries of his Lord Creator….and you have hope
that in due time he would one day turn back to his Lord Creator in repentance
and amend his conduct….then it would only be prudent that you strive your
absolute utmost, with extreme patience and wisdom, at every given opportunity
to instill the fear of Allah Subahnah into him…..and thus save your marriage.
But if after your best striving there is absolutely no
change in the conduct of your husband, or you have totally lost hope that he
will ever turn to his Lord in ‘taubah’ and amend his conduct, or you find that
his non-practice of the religion puts your own belief and your own practice of
religion on trial ….you are obviously well within your rights to initiate a
separation from such an impious husband through the institution of divorce.
Your
Question: ….i want to know will he be forgiven by allah and what does he have
to do to get this forgivness?
Whatever deeds one might have done in one’s past, if one
turns to Allah Subhanah in sincere ‘Taubah’ and seeks forgiveness, Allah Subhanah has promised in the Holy Quran
that He will forgive all the sins of such a repentant believer, even if one has
committed the gravest sin of all: ‘Shirk’!
The conditions or ways to seek sincere Taubah or
Repentance from the Merciful Lord are:
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 39 Surah
Zumur verses 53-54:
(O Prophet) say: “O My servants who have wronged
their own souls….Do not despair of Allah’s Mercy! Surely,
Allah forgives all sins. He
indeed is the All Forgiving, All
Merciful. Return to your Lord and
submit to Him before the scourge overtakes you;
for then you may get no help from anywhere.”
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale
Imraan verse 135-136:
Allah likes such good people very much,
who, if ever they commit a base deed or
wrong their own soul by the commission of a sin, remember Allah instantly, and ask for forgiveness from Him for their
shortcomings. For who, but Allah,
can forgive sins? (And Allah
loves those) who do not knowingly persist in the wrongs they did. These will be rewarded with forgiveness from
Allah, and with Gardens beneath which
canals flow, and they will reside
therein forever! How excellent is the
reward of those who do good deeds!
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah
Anaam verse 54:
When those come to you who believe in Our
Signs, say: "Peace be on you! Your Lord had inscribed for Himself (the rule
of) Mercy. Verily if any of you did evil
in ignorance, and thereafter repented
and amended (his conduct), Lo! He is
Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2357 Narrated by Abdullah ibn Mas'ud
Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "He who
repents of a sin is like him who has committed no sin."
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2338 Narrated by Abdullah ibn Umar
Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "Allah
accepts a servant's repentance (taubah) till he gives up his spirit in
death."
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only
due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me
alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is
the Only Source of Strength.
Your brother and
well wisher in Islam,
Burhan