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:

Dear brother,

is it islamically acceptable when mother, father and 2 sons are living together and 1 son marries and they want to continue living together in the same flat, with the married couple having their own room?

thanks in advance for your detailed answers.

(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:

Joint family acceptable

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 no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

It is absolutely acceptable in Islam to live in a joint family, if the members of the family wish to do so. If the wife does not wish to live in a joint family of her husband for any reason whatsoever, she is well within her rights given to her in Islam to demand that her husband provide her a separate dwelling from his family; and if the husband has the means, he should fulfill his wife’s demand of separate housing.

What the wife, who exercises her right to a separate dwelling cannot demand, is that her husband also leave his family house and live with her, if he does not wish to do so.

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 in Islam,

Burhan