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Is it advisable to continue a marriage with a wife who has confessed to adultery and insists on divorce, especially when there are children involved, or is separation preferable to end the psychological suffering?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If the wife requests a divorce due to ill-treatment, it is recommended for the husband to grant her request. In this situation, since the wife has admitted to committing haram (unlawful acts) and justified it by the lack of fulfillment of her desires, it is not permissible to keep her in a state of suspension. Therefore, the husband should grant her request for khul' (divorce at the wife's instance, usually with compensation to the husband) or talaq (repudiation by the husband). There is no harm if he divorces her in exchange for her relinquishing her rights. The fear for the children should not prevent this, as their welfare lies in their upbringing within a cohesive family where the boundaries of Allah are upheld. To avoid scandal, he can conceal her fault and not inform anyone of the true reason for the divorce, and instead mention that the reason was her disputes with his family. The husband should repent to Allah, strengthen his connection with Him, learn matters of his religion, and frequently supplicate.

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

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