What does a righteous woman do if she is under a wicked man?

The questioner : Regarding a sister whom we consider, and Allah is her accountant, to be on the right path, she maintains her prayer and tries to look into the end of things and directed herself regarding the call to Islam. Her husband is always shaved, effeminate, with no beard and no mustache. He lies to her about many matters, and she discovered this about him. I mean, he takes money from her and lies, saying he put it in such-and-such and did such-and-such, and you find afterwards that he is lying. He always involves them, he always involves his family, meaning the wife and the children, he always involves them and lies a lot. And he does not pray. So what is the ruling in the Shari'ah regarding this?

The Shaykh : What can she do?

The questioner : What does she do with a husband who does not pray and always lies?

The Shaykh : What can she do? What do you think? Am I telling you to divorce him?

The questioner : She is not able to divorce him.

The Shaykh : Well, what do you imagine? What can she do? Imagine anything and tell me, is it permissible or not permissible?

The questioner : Meaning, she lives with him in this state.

The Shaykh : She does not live with him.

The questioner : Meaning, she asks him for a divorce.

The Shaykh : Did you see how I am telling you to ask?

The questioner : By Allah, one seeks forgiveness. Shaykh, sisters, they have sisters, and we ask Allah for pardon and well-being with husbands who are the peak of foolishness.

The Shaykh : Yes, this is what we are asked about on the phone repeatedly and over and over. And you are now asking like this, but you understand her as they say in our region in Syria... you pat her on the back, meaning what does it mean to pat her on the back? It means to relax, meaning to weaken her morale, and you say, "I have children, what do I do with them?" Her matter is easy. If you are a believer, it is not permissible for you to live with him. You want to ask him for a divorce. If he agrees to the divorce... or else you want to do a khul' with him, meaning you return to him the mahr he gave you, so that you may untie your bond from him. "My children, what do I do with them?"

The questioner : If she returns the mahr, all his rights that he has with her, it becomes that she leaves him. Well, how does she divorce her?

The Shaykh : This requires a legal ruling. Here lies the problem of the Shari'ah court today.

The questioner : He controls her. The bond is in his hand. He says he will not divorce her.

The Shaykh : No, the case of divorce is one thing, and khul' is another. A woman like this asks this wicked husband to divorce her, and he refuses except for a price. The price that the Shari'ah allows him to demand is the mahr. So when she is ready to offer the mahr she received from him, the Shari'ah orders him to separate from her. Meanwhile, the Shari'ah does not order him to divorce her except for this price, which is the khul'.

The questioner : Meaning, she does not endure this state of lying and not praying.

The Shaykh : If divorce were in her hand, she must divorce him. But the matter is reversed now. A man marries a woman, and he is righteous, but she turns out to be tabarruj (displaying her adornment), she does not pray, she does not fast, and so on. It is not permissible for her to remain with him. He must divorce her immediately, because it is permissible for him in the Shari'ah to divorce her.

The questioner : Shaykh, for example, she says, "Come, attend to Shaykh Al-Albani, listen. If I understand from him, I say, 'I have no need of the shaykhs. Let me be with this person,' for example, the person of evil, for example, video and television. I have no need of the shaykhs. They are in their field, and I am in my field. I have no need of sitting with them, and I cannot sit with them." She says to him, "Well, I want to go and listen." He says, "I do not allow you."The Shaykh : And do not speak to him... I must see

The Shaykh : If divorce were in her hand, she must divorce him. But she must offer him khul'.

The questioner : Of course, she tried with him, our Shaykh, that he would pray. And if he prayed at a time, he would leave the rest. Even for Jumu'ah, he sleeps in the house like a menstruating woman and does not go to the mosque.
Abu Layla : It is permissible for a menstruating woman to go to the mosque and listen to the khutbah.

The questioner : Meaning, she did not catch up with a menstruating woman either.

The Shaykh : And Glorified are You, O Allah, with Your praise. I bear witness that there is no deity but You. I seek Your forgiveness and I repent to You.