Here are some tips on how to live as a Muslim under Shariah laws

On July 7, 2008 · In Islam, Shariah Law, USA

	Name of Questioner	New Muslimah – United States
	Title	Leaving One’s Wife Without Informing Her
	Question	One’s Respected scholars, as-salamu `alaykum. I’m a new Muslimah living in theU S. After my conversion to Islam, I married a Muslim immigrant who appeared in the beginning as a kind, emotional, and affectionate person. I helped him to gain the green card and after that he traveled to somewhere else and I know nothing about him or whether he is living in the US or somewhere else. Please tell me what to do and is this Islamically ok? Jazakum Allahu khayran.
	Date	06/Jul/2008
	Name of Mufti	Wael Shihab, Mohamed El-Moctar El-Shinqiti
	Topic	Marital relationships, Morals & Manners

Wa `alaykum as-salam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

Dear sister in Islam, first of all we congratulate you for your conversion to Islam and ask Almighty Allah to grant you peace of mind and heart and to grant you happiness in this worldly life and the world to come.

Actually, it is saddening to hear about the behavior of your husband who was supposed to fear Allah and show such fear in the way he treats you and to shower you with his care and love and to do his best to represent a true image of Islam before you; the thing that did not happen.

In his response to your question, Sheikh Mohamed El-Moctar El-Shinqiti, director of the Islamic Center of South Plains, Lubbock, Texas, stated,

It is not Islamically correct that a Muslim leaves his wife without informing her. This is considered as a treacherous act and betrayal of the marriage covenant that Allah called mithaqan ghaleezan (Arabic for: solemn contract).

Had this man been honest, he would have told her frankly that he had not wished to continue the marriage and he would have started the procedures of divorce. Divorce is not forbidden in Islam, but it has to be done in an ethical and respectful way that secures the financial and emotional rights of the two parties, especially the wife. That is why the Qur’an emphasizes that divorce be done with kindness, that a divorced lady be given some compensation at the ending of marriage.

In Islamic jurisprudence, the woman has the right to ask for divorce if her husband left her and did not provide for her needs. So she is entitled to both the legal and religious divorce. She may contact the nearest Islamic center for help.

Moreover, Wael `Abdel-Mut`aal Shihab, a Shari`ah researcher at Al-Azhar University, added,

Dear sister, thanks for your question and welcome to the light of Islam among your Muslim sisters and brothers.

I am really very impressed by your question and I ask Allah Almighty to help you lead a happy life based on the teachings of Islam.

Sister, I advise you to try your best to look for your husband and contact him. There are possibilities that he disappeared or faced some problems. All in all, you may seek the help of legal authorities and the imam of the nearest Islamic center. If you succeed in reaching him, speak with him frankly regarding your problems or seek the help of the imam or community leader to press him to be back home and carry out his duties as a Muslim husband.

On my part, I ask your husband to fear Allah, be a good Muslim husband, and carry out his duties toward you.

Sister, try your best to engage in the activities of the Islamic center, frequently visit the mosque, consult the imam regarding problems you may face, encircle yourself with good Muslim sisters, enrich your knowledge about Islam, and draw yourself closer to Allah.