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Is the wife sinful for refusing to live with her Muslim mother-in-law, given that she is Christian and does not accept or serve her, even though her husband understands this?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The rights of parents are immense, especially those of the mother, for whom the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, allocated three-quarters of filial piety. It is incumbent upon the husband to honor his mother, even if she is a disbeliever, based on the Almighty's saying: "But if they endeavor to make you associate with Me that of which you have no knowledge, do not obey them, but accompany them in [this] world with appropriate kindness." What the husband mentioned, that the wife and children come before everything else, including the mother, is incorrect. The husband must honor his mother and treat her well, and the wife should be an aid to him in honoring her, so that Allah may bless her with the piety of her children towards her.

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

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