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Should guardianship be for the husband or the wife if the husband is mentally ill and receives a disability pension and has a disability card, and he works and his affairs are normal? And does his divorce count if he utters it?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The meaning of "guardianship" (wilaya) for the husband or wife is unclear.

If what is meant is guardianship over the husband's property, then it is not for the wife. This is because a mature and رشيد (of sound mind) husband is not under anyone's guardianship. If he is سفيه (mentally incompetent or profligate), then his guardianship belongs to whoever was his guardian during his childhood, or to the ruler if he became incompetent after reaching maturity.

However, if what is meant is "qawamah" (husbands' responsibility for their wives), then it belongs to the husband and is not nullified by his psychological illness.

If the husband pronounces divorce while being fully aware and choosing to do so, then his divorce is effective, and psychological illness does not prevent its effectiveness as long as the husband is مکلف (legally competent and accountable).

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

Read the full answer on Ftawy