❀ Ruling on a Woman Living with an Alcoholic Husband ❀
This fatwa is taken from the book “500 Questions and Answers for Women,” based on the rulings of the Scholars of the Ḥaramayn, translated by Ḥāfiẓ ʿAbdullāh Salīm.
I have three sons and one daughter. My husband is addicted to intoxicants. He has previously been imprisoned for this crime. He is a habitual drunkard and has caused immense suffering to me and my children. He has now divorced me, and I am living with my parents along with the children. He provides no financial support and frequently threatens to take the children from me. As a mother, I cannot bear this. Please guide me in this matter.
This case pertains to the jurisdiction of Islamic courts.
Living with a habitual drunkard is not permissible. Such a person is harmful to both his wife and children, and it is better to remain distant from him—unless Allah grants him guidance and he sincerely reforms himself.
If the court issues a separation, it will most likely grant custody of the children to the mother, as she is more deserving, and the drunkard father is unfit for guardianship.
As long as he continues in this habit, he cannot be considered suitable to take custody, because such custody would endanger the welfare and future of the children.
In this situation, a woman is more deserving of the children’s custody, regardless of whether the children are boys or girls. This should be the standard legal judgment and is religiously obligatory, as the mother is better and more capable than the father, who is a fāsiq (open sinner).
If the woman does not wish to return to her husband, then this is a commendable decision, as she would be exposing herself to potential harm and danger by doing so—especially if, despite all these shortcomings, the husband still performs Ṣalāh (prayer).
However, if he does not pray, then it is obligatory not to return to him, because the abandonment of prayer is an act of disbelief (kufr). The Prophet ﷺ said:
«العهدُ الذي بيننا وبينهم الصلاةُ، فمن تركَها فقد كفر»
“The covenant that distinguishes between us and them is prayer; whoever abandons it has committed disbelief.”
[At-Tirmidhī]
And Allah says:
﴿لَا هُنَّ حِلٌّ لَّهُمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحِلُّونَ لَهُنَّ﴾
(60 – Al-Mumtaḥanah: 10)
“They (believing women) are not lawful for them (disbelievers), nor are they (disbelievers) lawful for them.”
Hence, if Allah guides him and he repents, then the matter would change.
Until then, the woman may remain at her parents’ home or stay separately with her children, away from him.
If he prays yet also drinks alcohol, then although this is a major sin and serious offense, he is not a disbeliever but a fāsiq.
In this case, the wife is permitted to refuse to live with him and to leave the household—she would be excused in doing so.
However, if she chooses to remain with patience, there is no sin upon her for that either.
(Shaykh Ibn Bāz رحمه الله)
This fatwa is taken from the book “500 Questions and Answers for Women,” based on the rulings of the Scholars of the Ḥaramayn, translated by Ḥāfiẓ ʿAbdullāh Salīm.
❖ Question:
I have three sons and one daughter. My husband is addicted to intoxicants. He has previously been imprisoned for this crime. He is a habitual drunkard and has caused immense suffering to me and my children. He has now divorced me, and I am living with my parents along with the children. He provides no financial support and frequently threatens to take the children from me. As a mother, I cannot bear this. Please guide me in this matter.
❖ Answer:
This case pertains to the jurisdiction of Islamic courts.
Living with a habitual drunkard is not permissible. Such a person is harmful to both his wife and children, and it is better to remain distant from him—unless Allah grants him guidance and he sincerely reforms himself.
If the court issues a separation, it will most likely grant custody of the children to the mother, as she is more deserving, and the drunkard father is unfit for guardianship.
As long as he continues in this habit, he cannot be considered suitable to take custody, because such custody would endanger the welfare and future of the children.
In this situation, a woman is more deserving of the children’s custody, regardless of whether the children are boys or girls. This should be the standard legal judgment and is religiously obligatory, as the mother is better and more capable than the father, who is a fāsiq (open sinner).
If the woman does not wish to return to her husband, then this is a commendable decision, as she would be exposing herself to potential harm and danger by doing so—especially if, despite all these shortcomings, the husband still performs Ṣalāh (prayer).
However, if he does not pray, then it is obligatory not to return to him, because the abandonment of prayer is an act of disbelief (kufr). The Prophet ﷺ said:
«العهدُ الذي بيننا وبينهم الصلاةُ، فمن تركَها فقد كفر»
“The covenant that distinguishes between us and them is prayer; whoever abandons it has committed disbelief.”
[At-Tirmidhī]
And Allah says:
﴿لَا هُنَّ حِلٌّ لَّهُمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحِلُّونَ لَهُنَّ﴾
(60 – Al-Mumtaḥanah: 10)
“They (believing women) are not lawful for them (disbelievers), nor are they (disbelievers) lawful for them.”
Hence, if Allah guides him and he repents, then the matter would change.
Until then, the woman may remain at her parents’ home or stay separately with her children, away from him.
If he prays yet also drinks alcohol, then although this is a major sin and serious offense, he is not a disbeliever but a fāsiq.
In this case, the wife is permitted to refuse to live with him and to leave the household—she would be excused in doing so.
However, if she chooses to remain with patience, there is no sin upon her for that either.
(Shaykh Ibn Bāz رحمه الله)
