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Is a divorce that occurred through the government religiously impermissible, even though the husband deserted his wife for six years?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

A husband is not permitted to abandon his wife for an extended period except for a legitimate Shar'i reason, such as insubordination (nushooz). The wife has the right to request a divorce due to abandonment, or due to lack of financial support and housing, or fear of temptation (fitna). If the divorce is issued by a Shar'i judge, it is valid and effective and cannot be revoked, unless it contradicts a consensus (ijma') or an explicit text. If the husband insists on the invalidity of the divorce, the wife may refer the matter to the court that issued the ruling.

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

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