What is the role of the wife in a marriage when the husband is sick with bipolar disorder and given the understanding that Islam teaches women to obey their husbands?
What is the role of the wife in a marriage when the husband is sick with bipolar disorder and given the understanding that Islam teaches women to obey their husbands?
Rebecca Masterton, Dr Rebecca Masterton graduated with a BA in Japanese Language and Literature; an MA in Comparative East Asian and African Literature and a PhD in Islamic literature of West Africa. She has been... Answer updated 2 years ago
Islamically, people that suffer from mental health disorders that involve a change of personality, or a lack of awareness about what they are doing and saying, are not to considered to be in a state of responsibility for their actions. A person can only be obeyed if they are aware of themselves and what they are commanding; if they are in a state of conscious responsibility for their actions. When your husband is more 'himself', stable and conscious of his actions, then he can be obeyed; if he is going through a psychotic episode, and is not aware of the requests, or the consequences of those requests that he is making, then it is not obligatory to follow them. Of course, maintaining love and respect for him remains an obligation.