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Is it permissible for a woman to seek divorce from her husband due to infertility, given that she knew about her husband's problem and accepted to continue her life with him, then left the home and filed for divorce under pressure from her family, even though the husband did not fall short in his duties?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Infertility is not among the defects that establish the right to annulment (فسخ). If the wife agrees to remain with her infertile husband, her family may not force her to leave him, and she owes no obedience to her parents in this matter, for obedience to her husband takes precedence. It is not permissible for a woman to leave her husband's house without his permission unless there is a necessity.

However, if the wife wishes to divorce because her husband cannot procreate, this is permissible in Islamic law, and there is no blame upon her for it. If he does not respond to her, she may refer her case to a judge. In this instance, she is permitted to leave without his permission, and going to a judge to seek one's right is not considered disloyal (نشوز).

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

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