Husband is required to spend on wife and children and the wife has the right to live in separate house Fatwa No: 168559
- Fatwa Date:30-11-2011
Assalamualaikum...I am married for the past 10 months...alhumdulillah my husband so far is co operative...i used to work as a teacher but now tat i m 8 months pregnant,he has asked me to take leave.i m in my mom s place till the delivery cuz my mom in law said the first baby delivery charges shd be borne by my dad..ens to whatever she says...she wanted to have a ritual during the seventh month,which i refused n she dint speak to me for a week bcoz of the refusal...now tat i m here at my mom s place..all the expenses out there are borne by my husband(he n his younger bro earn in tat house,dad in law is retired,there are two more younger teenage broz n a married sis wit husband(they ve a house of their own, he earns a handsome salary,still they prefer staying here) n two kids)cuz the younger bro is getting married,he needs to save his salary for his wedding ..Before when i used to work,my salary would also go in the family expenses..now tat i ve taken leave,i don contribute...and wen i m here my husband doesnt gimme a sngle penny for my medicine or doc visits..and now they re indirectly pointing out expensive huge hospitals to have me deliver over there... my question is.... 1.is he right in spending all of his salary on his family? 2.am i right in asking my father to bear my delivery expenses (he has no prob whatsoever,but still..)? 3.do i not have the right to save at least something from my own salary? I am really tensed on these matters cuz whatever my husband earns,goes in the family expenses,when he has a bank loan to repay..no one is bothered about that,if i remind him about it ,i am asked to get it from my father...very very disturbed....kindly help me...in the light of Quran and Sunnah.. jazakallah khair....
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and messenger.
The husband is Islamically required to spend on his wife and his children and the wife is not obliged to spend on herself or her husband let alone spending on the family of her husband. If the husband carries out his obligation towards his wife and children, it becomes permissible for him to spend on his family or on other people as this is an act of goodness and kindness. However, it is not permissible for him to be negligent on the rights of his wife. It is confirmed that ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Umar narrated that the Prophet said: “It is enough a sin for a person not to provide means of sustenance to those whom he is obliged to support.” [Abu Daawood]
Besides, whatever money the wife earns, it is her own money; she may spend of it if she so wishes and she may save it if she so wishes.
For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 85012 and 31645.
Nonetheless, you should not ask your parents to spend on you and this is not an Islamic obligation on him. Moreover, according to the preponderant view of the jurists the expenses of delivery [giving birth] are an obligation on the husband as we clarified in Fatwa 165373.
Finally, it should be noted that the wife has the right to be in a separate house and she is not obliged to live with the relatives of her husband unless there in space in the house in a way that the husband allocates a portion of the house that has separate amenities for his wife.
For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 84608.
Allaah Knows best.