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Fatwa CenterHusband Takes Second Wife while already in Financial Difficulties with the First
Question
I have problems with my marriage: I am married and have 2 children. Five years ago my husband started a relationship with a woman working in a TV station. But this relationship is only on the phone. My husband and I had so many fights because of this and their relationship grew to be love on both sides. To solve this problem, my husband told me that he married her on phone and there were witnesses. Is this marriage acceptable? Our financial circumstances are very bad and our phone bills are very high because of this relationship so that we cannot pay our apartment rent or other things for daily life. I am really frustrated because my husband is planning a future with this woman and of course keeping us also too. I do not agree to all this but am forced to stay because of my children.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
If you are certain that your husband has an illicit relationship with that woman or that he has not legally married her, then you have to exhort him, remind him of the punishment of Allah in this world and Hereafter, and warn him against Allah's Wrath. If he accepts your advice and returns to the right path, then be grateful to Allah on his repentance. If he does not accept your advice and persists in doing what is forbidden, then you have to complain against him in an Islamic court or to the elder members of the family to settle the matter. However, if he does not listen to you and does not give up the bad deeds, then, in this case, it is better for you to leave him. If you separate from him for this reason, Allah may grant you better than what you had left.
His marriage over the telephone is not valid since one of the main conditions of a valid marriage is the presence of two witnesses who can bear witness for what they have observed; whereas in this case, they cannot observe the marrying persons. Besides, if he has married without the consent of the guardian of the woman, then it is another reason for this marriage to be invalid. If your husband wants to marry this woman, then he should marry her while fulfilling all the conditions of a legal marriage. If he marries her according to the Sharee’ah, then you should be patient and should continue your life with him. Hence, he has the right to marry another woman and you are not allowed to ask divorce or separation for this reason. On the other hand, we would like to inform you that you are not obliged to pay the rent of your house or spend on yourself or your children. Your husband alone is responsible to bear those expenses even though it is better for you to share them with him.
Allah knows best.
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