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Fatwa CenterHer husband forces her to live in the same house with his brother
Question
My question is my husband is 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 that I 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 muslim women 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, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
It is your right as a wife to get a separate accommodation where you would be safe from any harm and where you would not be embarrassed.
Besides, it is not permissible for you to obey your husband in dwelling with your brother-in-law in the same house whose amenities are not separate, where his brother could see you (without Hijab) or be in seclusion with you, or where 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 Hijab, 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 if her husband does not provide her with an accommodation that is Islamically acceptable.
There is no doubt that your husband 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 of corruption. 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 dangerous as death).” [Bukhari 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 [as we do not know exactly what you mean] For general information in this regard, please refer to Fataawa 81205 and 88304.
Allaah Knows best.
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