Is the son closer to the father than the wife?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : What is derived from the first hadith, O Shaykh, is that the son is better than the wife? Is the son better than the wife among the family, meaning is he closer to the father than the family, than the wife?
The Shaykh : In any case, the wife is closer than the children in one aspect and farther in another aspect.
The questioner : No, but in a pit.
The Shaykh : The children are a part of the person, but for example, if the wife is in need, meaning a man has ten riyals and he has a wife and a son, and the ten riyals are enough for either the wife or the son, which one is given priority? The wife is given priority over the son. Likewise, the wife is permitted to do with her husband what the son is not permitted to do, so the matter differs. This is closer in one aspect and this is closer in another aspect. Yes.
The Shaykh : In any case, the wife is closer than the children in one aspect and farther in another aspect.
The questioner : No, but in a pit.
The Shaykh : The children are a part of the person, but for example, if the wife is in need, meaning a man has ten riyals and he has a wife and a son, and the ten riyals are enough for either the wife or the son, which one is given priority? The wife is given priority over the son. Likewise, the wife is permitted to do with her husband what the son is not permitted to do, so the matter differs. This is closer in one aspect and this is closer in another aspect. Yes.
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، 2878 - 4600 هل الولد أقرب إلى الأب من الزوجة؟ ابن عثيمين — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.