In Islam, the husband is the guardian of the family, and he is supposed to meet his family’s needs and help them attain piety so as to enter Paradise with them. If the husband drags his wife to commit evil acts and disobey Allah, then he is sinful for doing that, and so is the wife if she obeyed him, as there is no obedience to anybody in acts that involve disobeying Allah.
The prominent Muslim scholar Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, states the following: It is a real disaster that men and women from the Muslim community sink so deep in immorality. In the case where the wife is being forced to sin, both the wife and the husband are to blame. The husband is guilty because he is commanded to protect his family from being punished in the Hellfire. Almighty Allah addresses the believers saying: (O ye who believe! Ward off from yourselves and your families a Fire whereof the fuel is men and stones) (At-Tahrim 66: 6). Thus, just as the man is responsible for providing his family with worldly needs such as sustenance, clothing, medicine, and education, he is also responsible for getting them closer to Paradise and keeping them away from the Hellfire.
It is really worthless to clothe one’s wife in the best clothing, feed her with the best food, provide her many pleasures and, at last, drag her into the Hellfire. By the same token, it is useless that one’s children achieve the highest educational degrees or occupy the highest ranks, and then be doomed to the Hellfire. What a great loss!
Man is required to protect himself, as Almighty Allah says in the above mentioned verse, (Ward off from yourselves and your families a Fire.) Allah’s Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have said, “Everyone of you is a guardian and responsible for what is in his custody. The imam (i.e., ruler) is the guardian of his subjects and is responsible for them, and a man is the guardian of his family and is responsible for them.”
Husbands’ ought to protect their wives from immoralities such as drinking alcohol and attending such evil parties where men and women are engaged and involved together without any moral limits. By doing so, they are assuming strange Western morals with which our Muslim society is afflicted. In a word, this husband is to blame, for instead of protecting his wife from the Hellfire, he leads her to it.
On the other hand, the wife is also responsible since she is accountable for her deeds and still competent. She is not a mere tool that moves wherever directed or an animal that goes wherever led. She is a human being who has a mind and a will, and is able to say “no,” especially in matters of disobeying Allah.
In such matters of disobeying Allah, one must not obey another. This is the case where all authorities have no influence. In other words, a leader has no right to force his subordinates to do a wrongdoing, a father has no right to compel his child to do an act of disobedience, and, similarly, a husband has no right to compel his wife to sin. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have said, “A Muslim has to listen to and obey (the order of persons in authority) whether one likes it or not, as long as one is not ordered to commit sin; but if an act of disobedience (to Allah) is imposed, one should not listen to or obey it.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
Therefore, if a husband orders his wife or pushes her to commit sin, then she has the full right to say “no,” as there is a contradiction in this case between Allah’s right and the husband’s. In other words, if the husband’s right is to be obeyed, in this case, Allah’s right is to refuse committing the sin, and Allah’s right always takes priority.
To conclude, wives are responsible, and so is their husband. We ask both of them to reconsider their relation with Allah, and to refrain from continuing in that way, which only leads to loss in this world and to ruin in the Hereafter, Allah forbid.