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Does a wife's request for divorce become void after her husband repents for his mistreatment of her and commits to good conduct for several weeks?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If the wife requests a divorce due to harm inflicted upon her by her husband before his repentance, she is entitled to it if the harm is proven.

As for the religious aspect, there is no sin upon her for seeking divorce or khul' if it is due to her being harmed by remaining with her husband, even if he has repented from his abuse. She might have come to detest him because of the previous abuse and fears that she might not be able to uphold the boundaries set by Allah.

However, the wife is advised to retract her request for divorce if the husband repents from his abuse and to live with him amicably. Forgiving the one who wrongs is among the best deeds and a path to attaining Allah's forgiveness and pardon. Allah Almighty says: "And let them pardon and overlook. Would you not like that Allah should forgive you? And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful." (An-Nur: 22).

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

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