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What is the ruling of Islamic law regarding a husband who does not approach his wife under the pretext of her obesity, despite her urgent need for intercourse?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The husband is Islamically obligated to treat his wife kindly, and sexual intercourse is a right of the wife upon her husband. The husband's claim that his wife's obesity prevents him from fulfilling this right is unacceptable; he must either cohabit with her righteously or separate from her kindly. The wife must be careful not to fall into haram (unlawful acts) due to her husband's abandonment of her, and she should be patient, supplicate, and occupy herself with what benefits her. If the situation becomes unbearable and the harm persists, she has the right to seek a divorce, and Allah (SWT) will enrich each from His abundance.

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

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