How should conflicts between a wife and her in-laws be handled according to Islamic guidance?

Islam doesn't lay out a rigid legal ruling for in-law conflict the way it does for, say, mehr or inheritance — instead it gives strong ethical guidance: a husband is responsible for protecting his wife's rights and dignity, including from his own family, and a wife's obligations are to her husband, not automatically to his parents or siblings. Living separately from in-laws, when financially possible, is a common and scholar-endorsed practical solution precisely because it removes a major source of friction.

The Quran's general instruction to treat spouses "in kindness" (bil-ma'ruf, referenced repeatedly in Surah An-Nisa and Al-Baqarah) is the operating principle scholars apply here: a husband who consistently sides against his wife to appease his parents, or who allows her to be mistreated in his own home, is failing his marital responsibility. Family counseling through a trusted imam or scholar is commonly recommended before conflicts escalate to the point of considering separation.

Source: general ethical principles from Quran 4:19, 2:228 (bil-ma'ruf standard); contemporary scholarly counseling guidance.