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What is the ruling on one who abandoned his wife for a long time and did not give her her rights after marrying a second wife?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

It is not permissible for a husband to neglect the obligatory rights of his wife, such as maintenance and sexual intimacy, based on the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: "It is enough sin for a man to withhold from those whose sustenance he possesses," or "It is enough sin for a man to neglect those he maintains." A woman's need for sexual intercourse is no less than her need for maintenance. The one who falls short in these rights must repent to Allah and seek his wife's forgiveness. She has the right to claim maintenance from him if she does not forgive him. Among the conditions for the permissibility of polygyny is justice between wives in terms of maintenance and overnight stay.

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

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