With over 30 years of marriage counseling experience between them, Imam Musa and Professor Muhammad Al-Rahi sound the alarm on a crisis hitting the Muslim community like a tsunami: divorce is destroying families at unprecedented rates, lawyers are getting rich in the process, and the consequences for children are devastating. The statistics are staggering, and Shaytan’s greatest victory is the one most Muslims are not prepared to fight.
Shaytan’s Greatest Achievement: Splitting the Family
In an authentic hadith, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) described how Shaytan sits on his throne receiving reports from his soldiers. When one says “I split a husband from his wife,” Shaytan embraces him and says “you are the one” — because destroying the family destroys everything. The data confirms this: 63% of youth suicides, 80% of homeless children, 71% of high school dropouts, and 75% of adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes.
“Shaytan receives reports from his soldiers all day. When one says ‘I split a husband from his wife,’ Shaytan says ‘you are the man!’ — because when you destroy the family, you destroy society. 85% of children who show behavior disorders come from fatherless homes, which is 20 times the average.”
Why Muslim Divorce Rates Are Rising
Imam Musa identifies two primary drivers: unrealistic expectations from each other and the false belief that something better awaits if they just move on. Previous generations had far lower expectations and far greater patience. Today, both men and women suffer when divorce strikes — women’s “market value” declines as single mothers, while men become indentured servants paying lawyers and losing access to their children. The real winners are the attorneys getting rich on Muslim misery.
“If you have kids and you try to get divorced, the probability that it’s going to demolish your life is very high. Your home, your valuables — all going to be sold to pay the lawyers. It will tear a big chunk out of your life and disrupt your relationship with your kids.”
Islamic Solutions for Saving Muslim Marriages
- Never make major decisions when angry — calm down, make sajdah, pray in the night, and consult people of knowledge before acting
- Imams must counsel directly from Quran and Sunnah rather than referring couples to secular counselors or lawyers — otherwise the results will be no different from secular society
- Divorce should be treated as the absolute last resort, not a first option — while not haram, Allah described it as the most hated of permissible things
- Muslims have a golden opportunity to present to American society how Islam strengthens marriages and builds lasting families — becoming ambassadors of peace and role models for future generations
