What is the ruling on a man who abandons his wife and daughter and does not provide for them, then marries another woman and wants to divorce her without injustice, and desires to return to his first wife who stipulates the presence of a maid? Is it permissible for him to divorce the second wife for these reasons?
We advise you to be patient and to pray for your father. Your father abandoning your mother is a reprehensible act unless there is a legitimate reason for it, and there are regulations if it is due to the wife's disobedience (nushuz). The wife is customarily obliged to serve her husband, and her maintenance is obligatory upon her husband even if she is wealthy. He must also provide for young children and daughters until they marry, and for an adult daughter who is unable to earn a living. The mother is not obliged to spend from her own money. If the father is stingy with maintenance, it is permissible for the wife to take from his money an amount sufficient for her maintenance and the maintenance of her children without his knowledge. We advise reconciliation between the parents, and involving wise people as mediators. It is not permissible for the other wife to leave without his permission, nor is he obliged to take her to her family whenever she desires. Divorce is permissible but disliked without necessity, and the father is advised to counsel his other wife before divorcing her.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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