Question Summary:
If a husband and wife are separated for 2 years is their nikah still valid?

Question Detail:

 
My..... sister was married for 3 years now. The marriage life went well for 1 year but they literally stopped speaking with each other for more than a year now. Both are living seperately (with their parents) for past two years. She wants to live with him and is still trying to do whatever she could to live with him, but he doesn't understand her feeling and simply ignoring her. We made some surprise arrangements to make them meet and speak. She was very keen to speak with him but he was just avoiding her in front of everyone and he even asked her to give khula but natural she doesn't agree.
 
Because they had no relationships for the past 2 years, live seperately and stopped talking, will their marriage still holds good?

Answer :

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
A prolonged physical separation between husband and wife by itself does not terminate the nikah, however long the period. [i] [ii]
 
It is unfortunate that the husband has no interest in reconciling and is not making an effort to talk with his wife to resolve their differences.
 
If despite of efforts by relatives and others, the husband is not interested in staying in the relationship and neither does he want to give talaq (divorce) then the wife can consider the following options:
 
1.)   If the wife did not leave on her own and wants to return to her hubsand then she has the right to continue receiving nafaqa (maintenance expenses) from her husband even while staying at her parents home. [iii]
 
If her husband does not pay her expenses, she can get the nikah annulled by referring her case to a judge or a local body of ulama.
 
2.)   The wife can grant her husband the khula.
 
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Sohail ibn Arif,
Student Darul Iftaa
Chicago, USA
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
 
قوله وركنه لفظ مخصوص) هو ما جعل دلالة على معنى الطلاق من صريح أو كناية) [i]
رد المحتار على الدر المختار، ٣/ ٢٣٠ دار الفكر-بيروت
 
قوله وكل فرقة هي طلاق) كالفرقة في الإيلاء واللعان والجب والعنة ) [ii]
المرجع السابق ٣/ ٣١٣
 
وكذلك إذا لم ينقلها وهي بحيث لا تمنع نفسها وطلبت النفقة ولم يطالبها بالنقلة فلها النفقة؛ لأنه وجد [iii]
 سبب الوجوب  وهو استحقاق الحبس وشرطه وهو التسليم على التفسير الذي ذكرنا فالزوج بترك النقلة ترك حق نفسه مع إمكان الاستيفاء فلا يبطل حقها في النفقة
بدائع الصنائع في ترتيب الشرائع، ٤/ ١٩ دار الكتب العلمية