What is the religious ruling regarding a husband who does not have intercourse with his wife due to impotence and psychological distress, and does the wife earn reward for her patience with this situation?
The wife is rewarded for her patience and obedience to her husband, as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "Look to your relationship with him, for he is your Paradise and your Hellfire," and "Any woman who dies while her husband is pleased with her will enter Paradise." However, if the husband is unable to give his wife her conjugal rights and it is proven that she is harmed by this, then she has the right to request divorce or khul'. Conjugal rights are among the great objectives of marriage for achieving chastity. Scholars have differed on the period for which a husband is permitted to abstain from his wife. Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah was of the view that this depends on the wife's need and the husband's ability. If the husband's failure to engage in intercourse harms the wife, then she is not blameworthy for requesting divorce or khul'. As for his impotence, the right to annulment is not established by it if the wife is content and silent, and if a child has been born from him.
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