What is the ruling of Islamic law regarding a husband's refusal to divorce his wife who is afflicted with cancer, and what supplications and Quranic verses can help convince the husband to abandon the idea of divorce?
If the husband is afflicted with an illness and feels religiously constrained to keep his wife with him, there is no blame upon him as long as the wife is content with that, and he should not divorce her for this reason. The wife can try to persuade him not to divorce her, and if he is not convinced, she should be content with what Allah has destined. The husband does not have the right to divorce his wife against her will, and divorce is disliked when there is no need for it. There is no specific supplication (du'a) to dissuade a husband from the idea of divorce, but a Muslim turns to his Lord and supplicates to Him with whatever he wishes. We advise the wife not to insist on staying with her husband if the illness is contagious.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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