Is it permissible for a father to approve his daughter’s divorce and the destruction of a family without a convincing reason, and am I sinful if I divorce her and leave the children for her to raise them with pampering and stubbornness?

A wife's departure from her husband's home and her request for divorce without a legitimate Shar'i (Islamic legal) excuse is impermissible. A father's assistance to his daughter in this regard is forbidden. Obedience to the husband is more incumbent upon a woman than obedience to anyone else. The intervention of the wife's family to demand divorce is considered impermissible incitement (takhbib). It is advised to be patient and not hasten to divorce, and to try to find a mediator. However, if they insist and the wife agrees, there is no harm in divorce. In such a case, the husband is permitted to refrain from divorcing her until she ransoms herself from him with money. The custody of children belongs to the mother as long as she does not remarry, unless they reach the age of seven, in which case the child's best interest is considered.