Injustice between wives and children
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Fatwa number ( 9338 )
Q: I am a pious, bearded Muslim man, and I am very dutiful to my mother, praise be to Allah. My father is married to a second woman, other than my mother, but he loves her and her children, and he favors them over my siblings. They are my sisters from my mother. My father's wife is a spiteful woman toward us. She lives on the ground floor, and we are on the first floor of the same house. My father sleeps and eats with her and buys their provisions, but he does not buy for us, claiming that my sister and I have pensions. It is known that he has children who have pensions.
He also never sleeps at my mother’s place, nor does he eat with us, and this has been the case for a long time, i.e., for 13 years. Whenever I see him, I greet him and respect him, but I do not go down to his place because I am not comfortable with my father’s wife; she looks at me with unpleasant, unkind eyes. When there are disagreements between us and my mother, my father takes the side of his second wife. He is also afraid of her and does not respect my mother; he quarrels with her over the smallest things, even though my mother respects him. In fact, she served his mother for about twenty years until she passed away to the mercy of Allah. The question is: Do I commit a sin or is there any blame on me if I speak ill of my father in his absence because of the severity of the injustice I see him committing against us? Does my father commit a sin by being unjust to us? It is known that he does not give my mother any allowance at all. Do I commit a sin if I do not go down to the ground floor on the festival to congratulate him? It is known that he did not come to us on the festival to congratulate us. What is the proper, Sharia-compliant method that my mother should take to get her allowance from him? What is the Sharia-compliant method you advise me to follow in dealing with him? My father passes by us once every two or three days, and it does not take more than 10 minutes each time.
A: If the situation is as you described, then your father has done wrong by not being just between his two wives, and likewise by not being just between his children. However, it is not permissible for you to respond to your father’s evil with evil. Be dutiful to him and do not cut off ties with him, do not tarnish his reputation, and do not be undutiful to him in any way. Advise him in a good manner and guide him to what is obligatory for him toward his wife and children in the best way. You, your mother, and your siblings should seek your rights in a good manner. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Q: I am a pious, bearded Muslim man, and I am very dutiful to my mother, praise be to Allah. My father is married to a second woman, other than my mother, but he loves her and her children, and he favors them over my siblings. They are my sisters from my mother. My father's wife is a spiteful woman toward us. She lives on the ground floor, and we are on the first floor of the same house. My father sleeps and eats with her and buys their provisions, but he does not buy for us, claiming that my sister and I have pensions. It is known that he has children who have pensions.
He also never sleeps at my mother’s place, nor does he eat with us, and this has been the case for a long time, i.e., for 13 years. Whenever I see him, I greet him and respect him, but I do not go down to his place because I am not comfortable with my father’s wife; she looks at me with unpleasant, unkind eyes. When there are disagreements between us and my mother, my father takes the side of his second wife. He is also afraid of her and does not respect my mother; he quarrels with her over the smallest things, even though my mother respects him. In fact, she served his mother for about twenty years until she passed away to the mercy of Allah. The question is: Do I commit a sin or is there any blame on me if I speak ill of my father in his absence because of the severity of the injustice I see him committing against us? Does my father commit a sin by being unjust to us? It is known that he does not give my mother any allowance at all. Do I commit a sin if I do not go down to the ground floor on the festival to congratulate him? It is known that he did not come to us on the festival to congratulate us. What is the proper, Sharia-compliant method that my mother should take to get her allowance from him? What is the Sharia-compliant method you advise me to follow in dealing with him? My father passes by us once every two or three days, and it does not take more than 10 minutes each time.
A: If the situation is as you described, then your father has done wrong by not being just between his two wives, and likewise by not being just between his children. However, it is not permissible for you to respond to your father’s evil with evil. Be dutiful to him and do not cut off ties with him, do not tarnish his reputation, and do not be undutiful to him in any way. Advise him in a good manner and guide him to what is obligatory for him toward his wife and children in the best way. You, your mother, and your siblings should seek your rights in a good manner. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.