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:

I am working in gulf after one or two years I am visiting home. Please confirm me according to sharaya how any moth is legal to away with wife there is any limited time. Please explain in the light of Quran and Hades.

(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:

Time seperation

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.

Dear and beloved brother in Islam, there is absolutely no restriction or stipulation in Shariah Law which specifies the minimum or maximum time a husband is allowed to live away from one’s wife. If one is working or traveling away from one’s home, and one’s wife is aware that her husband is away on travel and will return; regardless of the amount of time the husband is away from his wife, their this separation has absolutely no effect on the validity of their marriage or on their relationship as husband and wife.

But if one’s spouse is deemed lost, whereby neither has he returned from his travel for a prolonged period of time, nor is there any information about his whereabouts, and the wife fears that her husband is lost or dead; she is well within her rights to approach a Shariah Court and initiate a divorce proceedings against her lost husband, so that she may free herself from her current marriage and seek to marry another.

Beloved brother, if you have been working overseas for a couple of years, and your wife or your family or your society are well aware that you have traveled overseas to work and will return, and they are well aware of your whereabouts whereby there is absolutely no fear that you are lost, etc.; this kind of separation from one’s wife, regardless of the time elapsed, has absolutely no effect on the validity of your marriage or your relations with your wife in Shariah Law.

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