Can He Force His Wife To Give Up Her Job? Her Husband Takes Her Salary
Islamic Rulings -
Living Shariah Verdicts
Islamic Questions & Answers
I got married and have not consummated the
marriage yet. My wife is refusing to give up her job
so we can get married and she can travel with me. What
is the solution? I do not want to waste more time with
her.
Can I divorce her without paying her the delayed
portion of the mahr because she is regarded as
wilfully defiant (naashiz) by not obeying my order to
leave her job?.
Praise be to Allaah.
So long as you knew that this woman was working when
you got married, and you agreed to that, and you did
not stipulate that she should give up her job, you
have no right to force her to leave this job after you
got married.
It says in al-Rawd al-Murbi‘ wa Haashiyatuhu:
"He has the right to stop her hiring herself out"
because he will miss out his rights as a result of
that, so it is not proper for her to hire herself out
except with his permission. But if she hired herself
out before marriage, that is valid and binding.
It says in the footnote or commentary:
i.e., her employment is valid and the contract is
binding, and the husband does not have the right to
annul it, because its benefits were acquired by means
of a contract that came before his marriage contract.
End quote from Haashiyat al-Rawd al-Murbi‘ by Ibn
Qaasim, 6/444. See also al-Insaaf, 8/267
Shaykh Zakariya al-Ansaari (may Allah have mercy on
him) said:
If a free woman hires herself out to do a specific
job, as a wet nurse or for any other purpose, without
the permission of her husband, that is not
permissible, because all her time is devoted to
fulfilling his rights… But with his permission it is
permissible.
If he married her when she was employed, he does not
have the right to stop her from fulfilling the terms
of the contract to which she is committed; this is
similar to the case if she hired herself out with his
permission. End quote from Asna al-Mataalib, 2/409.
Based on that:
The husband does not have the right to take her away
from the country in which his wife is required to stay
according to the terms of the contract that he knew
about before he married her or for which he gave her
permission.
It says in Minah al-Jaleel:
If a woman has committed herself to working as a wet
nurse, and her husband wants to take her away from the
land where the family of the nursing infant lives, if
she hired herself out as a wet nurse with his
permission, he does not have the right to do that. But
if it was without his permission, then he does have
the right to do that and the contract of employment is
annulled.
End quote from Minah al-Jaleel, 7/471
Based on the above:
The matter is between you and your wife. If she agrees
to give up her job in order to travel with you, then
she has done well. But if she does not accept that,
then you can look for a suitable job in the place
where your wife lives and works.
If you do not agree to that and you want to divorce
her, you do not have the right to withhold the mahr
that you agreed to give her and she is not being
wilfully defiant (naashiz) by refusing to give up her
job. Rather you may either keep her or divorce her and
give her the right that she has over you, which is
half of the mahr stipulated.
We ask Allah to set things straight for you and your
wife and reconcile between you.
And Allah knows best.
Her husband takes her salary; does
she have the right to take from him what she is
entitled to without his knowing?
I am working but all my salary is with my
husband.He provides me with all the needs .I have no
complaints about that.He even gives me a very small
amount of pocket money after a lot of requests every
month.But he refuses ti give me more thatn that.
I would like to ask can i take from him without his
knowledge some money very little amount because i feel
he is unjust to me.If i have to give my relatives or
my parents who are in need or gifts to my friends i
feel very helpless i cant help them because he does
not like it but i want to .
I dont want to cheat him even though i feel i have
equal rights over not only my money but his money also
but sometimes i dont understand why he does not give
me money.
I dont want arguements in my house for money thats why
i dont want to ask him anymore.
Please help.
I am not taking it for any wrong things.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
It is not permissible for the wife to take anything
from her husband's wealth except with his permission,
unless he is stingy with her in spending what he is
obliged to spend. In that case it is permissible for
her to take what is sufficient for her and her
children, on a reasonable basis, because of the report
narrated by al-Bukhaari (5364) from ‘Aa'ishah (may
Allah be pleased with her), which says that Hind bint
‘Utbah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: O
Messenger of Allah, Abu Sufyaan is a stingy man and
does not give me enough for me and my children, unless
I take from him without him knowing. He said: "Take
what is sufficient for you and your children on a
reasonable basis."
For more information please see the answer to question
no. 20433.
Secondly:
Whatever salary a woman receives is her property,
which she may dispose of however she wants, and she
does not have to give any of it to her husband or to
contribute to household expenses with her husband.
Rather spending on the wife and children is obligatory
upon her husband, even if the wife is rich, unless he
stipulated that she should contribute to the household
expenses or if it is the custom that a working woman
must contribute to the household expenses.
For more information please see the answer to question
no. 126316 and 4037.
Thirdly:
If the husband did not stipulate in the marriage
contract that he would take some of his wife's salary
in return for giving her permission to work, then it
is not permissible for him to take anything from her
salary, unless she gives it willingly. If he does take
something from it then he is taking something to which
he is not entitled, and in this case it is permissible
for the woman to take what she is entitled to from his
wealth without him knowing.
Shaykh al-Shanqeeti (may Allah have mercy on him)
said: If someone wrongs you by taking some of your
wealth in an illegitimate fashion and you cannot prove
it, and you can take similar to what he took from you
wrongfully in a manner that is safe from scandal and
punishment, do you have the right to take as much as
you are entitled or not?
According to the more correct of the two opinions and
according to the apparent meaning of the texts, and by
analogy, that you may take as much as you are entitled
to and no more, because Allah says (interpretation of
the meaning):
"then punish them with the like of that with which you
were afflicted"
[al-Nahl 16:126]
"you transgress likewise against him"
[al-Baqarah 2:194].
Among the scholars who held this view were: Ibn Sireen,
Ibraaheem al-Nakha‘i, Sufyaan, Mujaahid and others.
A group of scholars -- including Maalik -- said that
that is not permissible. This is the view of Khaleel
ibn Ishaaq al-Maaliki in Mukhtasar, where he says
concerning an item that is deposited with someone as a
trust: He does not have the right to take anything
from the one who wronged him equivalent to what he
deposited with him. He quoted as evidence for that
view a hadeeth that says: "Render the trust back to
the one who entrusted it to you, and do not betray the
one who betrays you."
This hadeeth -- even if we assume that it is saheeh --
cannot be quoted as evidence in this case, because the
one who takes as much as he is entitled to and no more
has not betrayed the one who betrayed him; rather he
has got his fair dues from the one who wronged him.
End quote from Adwa' al-Bayaan (2/467)
This is the ruling on this action, but it should be
noted that each spouse should treat the other in a
kind and reasonable manner, and each should give up
some of his or her rights to the other, so that good
treatment between them may continue.
And Allah knows best.
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