If I follow an opinion, from the opinions of the people of knowledge, that is different than the one my Husband follows. Do I have to follow the opinion that my husband follows or can I follow the opinion that I believe to be correct?

This issue requires a detailed response; if the opinion in question affects the whole household, then it is the opinion that the husband holds to be correct that is to be followed. If however, the opinion in question only affects the wife, then she may follow the opinion that she believes is correct.

I’ll give you an example; the issue of pictures, let’s say the wife believes that the correct opinion here is that photographs are not considered to be pictures, so she wants to hang them on the wall. The husband holds the opinion that photographs are pictures. This issue affects the whole household, so it is the opinion that the husband holds that must be followed.

Another example is the shortening of prayers during travel. Let’s say the husband holds the opinion that you cannot shorten the prayer unless you travel for a day and night. The wife holds the opinion that you can shorten the prayer at the distance of 83 kilometers. In this case the wife can shorten her prayers following this opinion, and she does not have to follow the opinion that her husband follows, as this decision only affects her and does not affect the whole family. Each person can follow the opinion that they believe is closest to the truth and backed by the evidence.

So if the issue in question affects the whole household, then the husbands opinion is the one that is followed. If however the issue only affects the wife, then she may follow the opinion that she believes is closest to the truth from the opinions of the scholars as long as it is the truth that is sought and not one’s desires.

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[Important note] This was a live question asked to Shaykh Mis’id al Husaynee with albaseerah.org, upon returning to the audio file it was not found, so it was translated out of memory. As soon as the audio file is found it would be altered to reflect exactly what the Shaykh said along with the Arabic text.