Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatulahi wa barakatuh dear sister,

Alhamdulilah, it seems that you have a good husband on many counts, but you  are right to be concerned about your husbands behaviour with this other woman, because any contact with this woman is haram. Sure, the contact is online,  they’re not meeting face to face, they’re not having any physical contact either, but this does not make it permissible. Contact between a man and woman without a mahram present is not permissible. This extends to the phone and online contact as much as face to face contact. It is something to worry about because in such cases Shaytan can easily get the better of the 2 parties tempting them to take things a step further and destroy any existing marriages. Shaytan likes that! It is understandable therefore why you do feel concerned about his behaviour with her. Maybe as it is at present there is no pressing concern, but Shaytan can intervene anytime and turn this seemingly harmless friendship into something more sinister very quickly in an attempt to kill both your marriage and the other sisters too.

At the same time, however, do try to avoid being suspicious and looking for evidence for this contact between your husband and this woman as he will become defensive and this may only push him away even more. This can be very difficult when you know that he does talk to her and how Shaytan could indeed interfere and take things a different way, but being suspicious of him will only heighten difficulties with your husband as he may make any contact with her even more secretive which will only make things even easier for shaytan.

To make this task easier in yourself, you can begin by strengthening your own relationship without focusing on what you feel is going on between her and him. Focus on the positives between you for now, appreciating the goodness in each other without being distracted by what he has or may be talking about with her. Take time to do things together, just the 2 of you. Have fun together doing the things you enjoy together.

Get closer to Allah together so that he may realize the error in his behavior for himself without you seemingly have to ‘nag’ him about it. If he becomes aware of it himself, he is more likely to change than if he feels you are always on his back about it. You can do this by, for example, reading Qur’an together. He is a hafiz, so perhaps you could ask him to assist you, or work with you to improve your own recitation or memorisation skills. You could study Islamic topics together or watch Islamic lectures together that might take you both on a journey closer to Allah together. As his fear of Allah grows, he will desire less to do things that Allah does not like, such as talking to this other woman.

It might be that you also ask someone close to him to address the issue with him, to make him more aware of the potential dangerous consequences of his behaviour, someone who you feel will he may be more responsive to, perhaps a friend or family member.

During this time continue to pray to Allah to guide your husband on the straight path and away from the behaviour he is currently engaged in.

May Allah guide him on the straight at and give you the strength and patience to help your husband step away from his current actions.