A wife gives her husband the choice between divorce and the television
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
May Allah reward you. This questioner says, after the greeting of peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah, and the supplication that Allah accept from everyone their righteous deeds:
The Shaykh:
Hmm.
The questioner:
A man is married to a woman and has children with her. Allah granted him the blessing of Islam, so he broke the television that was in her house?
The Shaykh:
Repeat, repeat.
The questioner:
A man is married to a woman and has children with her. Allah granted him the blessing of Islam, so he broke the television that was in his house. His wife gives him the choice between divorce or the television. What should he do? Abu Donald, may Allah bless you.
The Shaykh:
If his wife is good and commits to watching only what is beneficial, such as lectures that benefit her, or the Qur'an, or something that benefits her, and she listens to songs and entertainment, there is no harm; it is better than divorce. If he does not feel safe from her listening to something bad, then praise be to Allah, he should replace her with someone else; he should ask Allah to provide him with someone else. However, he must exercise wisdom in matters and not be hasty. He should tell her, "If Allah wills, I will look into the matter," and not rush things. He should open the television while he is present, then turn it off to anything that is not appropriate, so that divorce does not occur. They should listen to good things and what people generally listen to, such as a good lecture, a good academic seminar, important news, or listening to the Qur'an—something good. As for the harmful things on television, such as listening to songs, bad serials, or anything else, he should turn it off and be cautious in the presence of Allah, and praise be to Allah, this is better than divorce.
May Allah reward you. This questioner says, after the greeting of peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah, and the supplication that Allah accept from everyone their righteous deeds:
The Shaykh:
Hmm.
The questioner:
A man is married to a woman and has children with her. Allah granted him the blessing of Islam, so he broke the television that was in her house?
The Shaykh:
Repeat, repeat.
The questioner:
A man is married to a woman and has children with her. Allah granted him the blessing of Islam, so he broke the television that was in his house. His wife gives him the choice between divorce or the television. What should he do? Abu Donald, may Allah bless you.
The Shaykh:
If his wife is good and commits to watching only what is beneficial, such as lectures that benefit her, or the Qur'an, or something that benefits her, and she listens to songs and entertainment, there is no harm; it is better than divorce. If he does not feel safe from her listening to something bad, then praise be to Allah, he should replace her with someone else; he should ask Allah to provide him with someone else. However, he must exercise wisdom in matters and not be hasty. He should tell her, "If Allah wills, I will look into the matter," and not rush things. He should open the television while he is present, then turn it off to anything that is not appropriate, so that divorce does not occur. They should listen to good things and what people generally listen to, such as a good lecture, a good academic seminar, important news, or listening to the Qur'an—something good. As for the harmful things on television, such as listening to songs, bad serials, or anything else, he should turn it off and be cautious in the presence of Allah, and praise be to Allah, this is better than divorce.
Source
فتاوى الحج ١٤١٠ هـ - ٨ — archive.org (20:16)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.