There is a problem faced by my mother’s friend. Her husband does not treat her in a good way. Although he provides her with clothes and shelter, he is engaged in illicit activities. He comes home late at night and once a lady saw him with another woman. And when she inquires he gets upset. That woman can’t do anything because if she asks for divorce she has no place to live. What should she do? How can Allah guide  her husband to the right path?

This indeed is a pathetic situation. Your mother’s friend is indeed facing a great ordeal and it seems that she is dealing with a ‘chronic patient’. Such a husband is really a great trial for the wife – as is life as a whole. She of course has very few options. Living alone as you rightly said is not easy at all for a divorced woman. And living with such a husband is equally difficult. Maybe some elder who has influence on the person can be asked to counsel him but again such adults may not be easy to find these days.

Whether she opts to live in misery or she decides to seek divorce, she should be aware that life is a place of trials and tribulations. A person is sometimes tried through his closes relations and this indeed is a emotionally rupturing experience. We have been told to bear such vicissitudes of life with patience and forbearance. We should keep praying to the Almighty to grant us steadfastness and resolve to fight out the situation with a high moral character. This of course might also help in melting the heart of such a callous husband.