If a mother orders her sons to divorce their wives, what is the ruling?
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The questioner : If a mother orders her son to divorce his wife, even though the wife is obedient to her husband, but...
The Shaykh : Even though the wife is what?
The questioner : Obedient.
The Shaykh : Obedient, what does that mean?
The questioner : Obedient, meaning.
The Shaykh : Obedience (qunut) to Allah is the only valid usage; it is not correct to say it of anyone other than Allah.
The questioner : Yes, but there was only mutual cursing between her and the mother, so the mother said to the son, "Divorce her."
The Shaykh : Unfortunately, this problem occurs in the present age due to the corruption of upbringing and the society in which one lives. My answer to this, in brief, is that if this mother were like 'Umar ibn al-Khattab in her knowledge of Islam, and in what Allah the Mighty and Majestic has made lawful and forbidden, and if she were in 'Umar's position regarding his fear of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, then if she said to the daughter, "Divorce," she would have answered. But this is a fantasy within a fantasy, because we do not find among fathers one whom we can trust to issue a ruling to his son if his father orders him to divorce his wife, given what we know of fathers following their desires. I say this because it is established in the authentic hadith that Ibn 'Umar was ordered by his father 'Umar to divorce his wife, so he came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and mentioned that to him, and he said: and he ordered him to divorce his wife in obedience to his father. This is the text. But we do not have a text stating that a father or mother is to be equated with 'Umar in knowledge, righteousness, and piety. Otherwise, this equation would be like comparing blacksmiths to angels, as some people say.
The Shaykh : Even though the wife is what?
The questioner : Obedient.
The Shaykh : Obedient, what does that mean?
The questioner : Obedient, meaning.
The Shaykh : Obedience (qunut) to Allah is the only valid usage; it is not correct to say it of anyone other than Allah.
The questioner : Yes, but there was only mutual cursing between her and the mother, so the mother said to the son, "Divorce her."
The Shaykh : Unfortunately, this problem occurs in the present age due to the corruption of upbringing and the society in which one lives. My answer to this, in brief, is that if this mother were like 'Umar ibn al-Khattab in her knowledge of Islam, and in what Allah the Mighty and Majestic has made lawful and forbidden, and if she were in 'Umar's position regarding his fear of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, then if she said to the daughter, "Divorce," she would have answered. But this is a fantasy within a fantasy, because we do not find among fathers one whom we can trust to issue a ruling to his son if his father orders him to divorce his wife, given what we know of fathers following their desires. I say this because it is established in the authentic hadith that Ibn 'Umar was ordered by his father 'Umar to divorce his wife, so he came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and mentioned that to him, and he said: