Is it permissible for a man to marry a woman whose husband has abandoned her and refused to divorce her except in exchange for her giving up their daughter, and is it permissible for the daughter to remain with her mother if the latter remarries, and can the man marry her and adopt her daughter?

It is not permissible to marry a married woman until she is separated from her husband by divorce, annulment, death, or khul‘ (dissolution of marriage at the wife's instance), and her waiting period (‘iddah) has ended. If the husband abandons his wife for more than a year and a half, she has the right to request a divorce. If he does not divorce her, she should refer her case to Islamic centers for them to issue the divorce. If her waiting period ends, she may marry whomever she wishes. Whoever marries her and consummates the marriage with her becomes a mahram to her daughter. We advise staying away from this woman and adhering to the legal limits, and not seeking to have her divorced from her husband in order to marry her, for the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "And he who spoils a woman for her husband is not from us."