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The rights of the father post divorce

Answered as per Shafi'i Fiqh by Qibla.com

Answered by Shaykh Amjad Rasheed
Translated by Shaykh Hamza Karamali, SunniPath Academy Teacher

I hope you are well. My parents have been divorced for many years due to major mistakes made by my father. The children were conscious of this and decided to live with my mother. Subsequently we have never made contact with our father. Is this a mistake on our part, keeping in mind that he was the oppressor?

Answer:
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

It is not permissible for you to cut off relations with your father. Rather, as his children, it is obligatory on you to be good to him by maintaining ties with him, and to obey him in matters that don’t contravene the Sacred Law. The presence of discord between him and your mother does not affect this obligation.

You should, however, advise him to desist from his wrongdoing. It is also unlawful for you to assist him in his wrongdoing in any way. It may well be, if Allah Most High wills, that your closeness to him will be a means of preventing his oppression and encouraging him to set right the wrongs that he did in the past.

السؤال: طُلِّقت أمي؛ لأن أبي قد ظلمها كثيراً، فنحن الأولاد اخترنا أن نعيش معها. وترتب على هذا عدم مكالمة أبينا منذ سنين، فهل أخطأنا مع أنه ظالم؟
الجواب: لا يجوز لكم هجرُ أبيكم، فبرُّهُ بصِلَتِهِ وطاعةِ أوامره غير المخالفة للشرع واجبٌ عليكم مع وجود الخلاف بينه وبين أمِّكم، لكن عليكم نصيحتُه وعدمُ إعانته على الظلم، وإن شاء الله تعالى أن يكون قربُكم منه رادعاً له عن الظلم وحاثاً له على ردِّ المظالم إن كان ظالماً.

This answer was indexed from Qibla.com, which used to have a repository of Islamic Q&A answered by various scholars. The website is no longer in existence. It has now been transformed into a learning portal with paid Islamic course offering under the brand of Kiflayn.

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