Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Me and my husband have been married now for 3 years and we have a 2 year old son. I recently found out that my husband was having an affair which had been going on for a while. I want to know whether this infidelty is reason enough for me to be allowed a divorce from him. I have kept evidence of this affair. Will this be enough....? If i do not decide to divorce him i want to know will he be forgiven by allah and what does he have to do to get this forgivness? 

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Husband commits adultery

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Your Question: …I want to know whether this infidelty is reason enough for me to be allowed a divorce from him.

To answer your question directly, the infidelity or the committing of the abomination of ‘zina’ would be more than enough reason for one to seek a divorce in the marriage.

Respected sister in Islam, the time to thoroughly satisfy oneself with the character and the practice of religion of one’s husband is before one agrees to marry such a person, nor after one has married him! If you or your guardians did not take the required striving to investigate or had prior knowledge of your husband’s negligence in his practice of the ‘deen’, and you still chose to marry the person ….then obviously you have chosen to put yourself in a trial with your own hands and you have no one to blame but yourself for the condition you find yourself in!

If you believe that your husband fears Allah and the Last Day in some corner of his heart, but was swayed by emotion or circumstances to transgress the prescribed Boundaries of his Lord Creator….and you have hope that in due time he would one day turn back to his Lord Creator in repentance and amend his conduct….then it would only be prudent that you strive your absolute utmost, with extreme patience and wisdom, at every given opportunity to instill the fear of Allah Subahnah into him…..and thus save your marriage.

But if after your best striving there is absolutely no change in the conduct of your husband, or you have totally lost hope that he will ever turn to his Lord in ‘taubah’ and amend his conduct, or you find that his non-practice of the religion puts your own belief and your own practice of religion on trial ….you are obviously well within your rights to initiate a separation from such an impious husband through the institution of divorce.

Your Question: ….i want to know will he be forgiven by allah and what does he have to do to get this forgivness? 

Whatever deeds one might have done in one’s past, if one turns to Allah Subhanah in sincere ‘Taubah’ and seeks forgiveness, Allah Subhanah has promised in the Holy Quran that He will forgive all the sins of such a repentant believer, even if one has committed the gravest sin of all: ‘Shirk’!

The conditions or ways to seek sincere Taubah or Repentance from the Merciful Lord are:

• One is aware that he has sinned, and feels sorry and ashamed at their sin.
• Makes a solemn covenant and promise with Allah that one will not repeat their sin again.
• Turns to Allah and seeks forgiveness before one meets with their appointment of death.
• Is a believer and does righteous good deeds thereafter.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 39 Surah Zumur verses 53-54:

(O Prophet) say: “O My servants who have wronged their own souls….Do not despair of Allah’s Mercy! Surely, Allah forgives all sins. He indeed is the All Forgiving, All Merciful. Return to your Lord and submit to Him before the scourge overtakes you; for then you may get no help from anywhere.”

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale Imraan verse 135-136:

Allah likes such good people very much, who, if ever they commit a base deed or wrong their own soul by the commission of a sin, remember Allah instantly, and ask for forgiveness from Him for their shortcomings. For who, but Allah, can forgive sins? (And Allah loves those) who do not knowingly persist in the wrongs they did. These will be rewarded with forgiveness from Allah, and with Gardens beneath which canals flow, and they will reside therein forever! How excellent is the reward of those who do good deeds!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anaam verse 54:

When those come to you who believe in Our Signs, say: "Peace be on you! Your Lord had inscribed for Himself (the rule of) Mercy. Verily if any of you did evil in ignorance, and thereafter repented and amended (his conduct), Lo! He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2357 Narrated by Abdullah ibn Mas'ud

Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "He who repents of a sin is like him who has committed no sin."

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2338 Narrated by Abdullah ibn Umar

Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "Allah accepts a servant's repentance (taubah) till he gives up his spirit in death."

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan