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What to Do If Wife Is Not Interested in Sex?

07 July, 2025
Q As-Salamu `alaykum. Concerning having intercourse with one's wife, what should one do if his wife does not feel so much sexual desire while the husband has much more desire? Also, often when she agrees to have intercourse to please him while she actually does not feel any desire, she looks completely uninterested and makes him feel bad. Sometimes, when he asks for it, she either gets so nervous or just lets him but does not seem to enjoy it at all. What should the husband do? Sometimes, the wife accuses her husband that he thinks too much about this issue and that he is too demanding. Is there a certain moderate frequency to know if someone is too demanding or that the other person is lacking desire? Also, punishing her by abandoning her in bed seems to be more punishing for him than her. She gets so nervous when he tries to talk to her about the issue and she does not want to admit that there is anything wrong. Jazakum Allahu Khayran

Answer

Dr. Sano Koutoub Moustapha
07 July, 2025

Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

In this fatwa:

If a Muslim wife is not interested in sex, Islam encourages the husband to be patient and find the root cause—be it emotional, psychological, or physical. The Qur’anic approach involves offering gentle advice, maintaining connection, and seeking change through wisdom and compassion over time.

Responding to the question, Dr. Sano Koutoub Moustapha, Professor of jurisprudence and its principles at the International Islamic University, Malaysia, states:

Understanding a Wife’s Lack of Interest in Intimacy

Thanks for your question and I wish you and your wife good luck. I do understand from your explanation that your wife is not much interested in marital or sexual relations. This is common in the life of many women.

The Importance of Patience and Gentle Convincing

However, you have to do your best by knowing the time, style and ways of convincing her and helping her to change this type of behavior. It might take time to do so; you need patience and tolerance.

Don’t Abandon Her: The Qur’anic Method in Marital Conflicts

Try to find the reasons behind her unwillingness and less interest in this matter. I advise you that you should not abandon her in bed but follow the Qur’anic approach in handling wife’s rebelliousness. You start with advising and counseling. Hopefully, with time she will change if you don’t give up.

Commenting on this issue, we would like to state the following:

It is quite natural for a woman to occasionally be uninterested in sex, such as when she has had a hard day or is ill. At such times you should be patient with her.

For a chronic problem such as yours, we strongly advise you to seek medical and/or psychological advice for this problem, even if your wife does not think there is anything wrong.

There are many reasons for a woman feeling frigid. It could be caused by an underlying illness or hormone imbalance or by psychological factors such as fear of getting pregnant, an early traumatic experience such as abuse, or general unhappiness in the marriage.

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Allah Almighty knows best.

Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.