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Can a woman divorce her husband because of his pornographic addiction?

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by IslamicSolutions.org

Shortened Question:

Can a woman divorce her husband because of his pornographic addiction?

Question:

Assalamalikum wr wb,

I want to ask you if a woman is married to a man who has a very serious pornography addiction and is not willing to work on it, can she leave him? She tried really hard to work with him and bringing him closer to Allah, but instead he told her he can do whatever he wants, and if she leaves he will divorce her.

The husband’s family was involved in this issue and they do not seem to care about her at all, taking the guy’s side.

Jazakallah

Answer:

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

Marriage is a big commitment and may include a lot of complexities and difficulties. It requires a lot of nurturing for a marriage to survive. When a man and a woman get together and are joined in the act of nikah, they may be subjected to many challenges especially if they are from different social backgrounds. A lot of compromising is required from each partner especially in the first few years.

It is possible that during the marriage one spouse may develop a problem which can cause a strain on the relationship. The other party should have patience and exercise caution so that together they can resolve the problem.

We do understand and sympathise with the woman for the embarrassment that she is faced with. We understand how difficult it must be for her to know that her husband is casually looking at other women on these pornographic sites and yet knowing how detestable and embarrassing it is to her. It must be very difficult knowing that his family does not object to this despicable act of his.

Since talking to him does not help and neither is there any help from his family we suggest that she refers the matter to a senior local Alim who is experienced and is able to deal with such matters. She should encourage him to speak to this Alim and work on a strategy which will over time obliterate this evil habit of his. Emphasize to him that pornography in itself weakens the Iman of a person and take him further away from the ibādat of Allah Ta’ala.

Although we understand her desire to be separated from her husband it should be noted that a separation would not break the nikah. She remains in his Nikah.

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best

Mufti Saeed Ahmed Golaub

Islamic Solutions

Jamaica

This answer was collected from IslamicSolutions.org, which is operated by Mufti Saeed Ahmed Golaub from Jamaica. He’s a student of Mufti Ebrahim Desai (rah) from South Africa.

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