My question is my husbandis forcing me to stay with his married
brother ,I had told him about the hadiths mentioning that "brother in
law is death" living together may cause many problems,but he doesnt
seems to listen,he says thatI just have to maintain my Hijab thats
all.Wht can I do?since his wife is also a nonmehram to him that will
be a probs.As a muslimwomen I dont get my rights from my husband,he
doesnt agrees to the rights of women in Islam.Please advise.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify
that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad
, is His slaveand Messenger.
It is your right as a wife to get a separate accommodation where
youwould be safe from any harm and where you would not be embarrassed.
Besides, it is not permissible for you to obeyyour husband in dwelling
with your brother-in-law inthe same house whose amenities are not
separate,where his brother could see you (without Hijaab) orbe in
seclusion with you, orwhere there is any other matter that might lead
to temptation.
Even if we presume that you can take the necessary measures to avoid
these prohibitions and always wear Hijaab, then this may cause much
hardship to you. So, your husband has no right to oblige you to live
in such a situation. For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 84608 .
Based on this, it is permissible for the wife to ask for divorce as a
way of repelling harm off herself ifher husband does not provide her
with an accommodation that is Islamically acceptable.
There is no doubt that yourhusband is also obliged to abide by the
Islamic conditions in dealing with the wife of his brother as she is a
non-Mahram to him. Therefore, we warn against being lenient in such
kind of dealings within one family as this is one of the major reasons
ofcorruption. The Hadeeth that is mentioned in the question which
reads 'the male in-law is death itself' is the best evidence in this
regard. The text of the Hadeeth is as follows: Uqbah Ibn 'Aamer
narrated that the Prophet said: " Beware of entering upon women"; a
man from the Ansaar asked: 'O Messenger of Allaah, what do you say
about the male in-law (the woman's husband's male relative like his
brother, uncle, cousin, etc.)?' He replied: "He is death itself (i.e.
his seclusion with her is as serious and dangerousas death) . "
[Bukhaari and Muslim] For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 154373 .
As regards what you mentioned about your husband that he does not
agree with the women's rights in Islam, then this needs more
clarification [aswe do not know exactly what you mean] For general
information in this regard, please refer to Fataawa 81205 and 88304 .
Allaah Knows best./