The ruling on a father preventing his children from visiting their divorced mother

Question:
Honorable Shaykh, this is the question of Sami’s wife, who wrote it in her own style. She says: I have been married for years, and my husband has prevented my children from seeing me for nearly ten years. I am in one village and they are in another. The children are with him because of his dispute with my father and his mistreatment of me, which led to my divorce. Do I, as the mother, sin by not seeing my children? And if he is the cause, and he says to me from time to time over the phone and in the letters he writes to me, “I want to break your heart regarding your children because you stood with your father in the dispute that was between us,” does the sin of not seeing them fall on me?

Answer:
It is known that the children are with their father if the woman marries, in which case custody transfers to their father. If the boy reaches the age of seven and is given the choice, but if his mother is separated from her husband, he does not choose, even if he has reached seven years of age; he remains with his father, who protects and raises him. As for preventing the children from visiting their mother, this is not permissible for him, because this is severing family ties and harming the mother. Allah the Exalted says: It is not permissible. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The principle is that harm is removed. If this is a matter of causing harm, this action is not permissible for him. Rather, he must allow his children to visit their mother, if she is content with them and maintains family ties. He should also not raise them to sever ties or be undutiful to their mother.

The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good.