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What is the ruling on a wife refusing her husband's invitation to bed due to her shyness about performing ghusl at her family's house or due to her exhaustion?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

A woman is commanded, according to Islamic law, to answer her husband's call to bed. Her refusal without a valid religious excuse entails a severe warning, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If a man calls his wife to his bed and she refuses, and he spends the night angry with her, the angels curse her until the morning."

A wife's refusal of her husband's bed is forbidden unless there is a valid religious excuse. It is permissible for the husband to enjoy his wife whenever he wishes, as long as it does not distract her from obligatory duties or harm her.

Embarrassment from bathing, concern for her hair, or feeling exhausted and having a headache do not justify refusing to answer her husband, unless this would result in unbearable harm or hardship.

There should be understanding between the spouses, and the husband should be considerate of his wife in situations where she experiences hardship or embarrassment, as this strengthens their companionship and increases their affection.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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