By Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid
Question: 10680
What are a wife’s rights on her husband according the Quran and Sunnah? Or what are a husband’s duties to his wife and vice-versa?
Summary of answer
The wife has financial rights over her husband which are the mahr , spending and accommodation. And she has non-financial rights such as fair division between co-wives, being treated in a decent and reasonable manner, and not being treated in a harmful way by her husband.
Contents
Rights of Wife in Islam
1- Financial rights of the wife
(a) The mahr (dowry)
(b) Spending
(c) Accommodation
2- Non-financial rights
(ii) Kind treatment
How Prophet Muhammad treated
his wives
(c) Not harming one’s wife
Rights of husband in Islam
(a) The obligation of obedience
(b) Making herself available to her
husband
(c) Not admitting anyone whom the
husband dislikes
(d) Not going out of the house except with the husband’s permission
(e) Discipline
(f) The wife serving her husband
(g) Submitting herself to him
(h)The wife should treat her husband in a good manner
Some details are here from above
contents.
Praise be to Allah, and blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah.
Islam has enjoined upon the husband duties towards his wife, and vice versa, and among these duties are some which are shared by both husband and wife.
We will mention – by the help of Allah – some of the texts of the Quran and Sunnah which have to do with the duties of the spouses towards one another, quoting also from the commentaries and views of the scholars.
Rights of wife in Islam
The wife has financial rights over her husband which are the mahr (dowry), spending and accommodation.
And she has non-financial rights such as fair division between co-wives, being treated in a decent and reasonable manner, and not being treated in a harmful way by her husband.
1- Financial rights of the wife
(a) The Mahr (Dowry)
This is the money to which the wife is entitled from her husband when the marriage contract is completed or when the marriage is consummated. It is a right which the man is obliged to pay to the woman . Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And give to the women (whom you marry) their Mahr (obligatory bridal-money given by the husband to his wife at the time of marriage) with a good heart.” [al-Nisa 4:4]
(b) Spending
The scholars of Islam are agreed that it is obligatory for husbands to spend on their wives, on the condition that the wife makes herself available to her husband.
If she refuses him or rebels, then she is not entitled to that spending.
(c) Accommodation
This is also one of the wife’s rights, which means that her husband should prepare for her accommodation according to his means and ability. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Lodge them (the divorced women) where you dwell, according to your means.” [al-Talaq 65:6]
2- Non-financial rights
(i) Fair treatment of co-wives
One of the rights that a wife has over her husband is that she and her co-wives should be treated equally , if the husband has other wives, with regard to nights spent with them, spending and clothing.
(ii) Kind treatment
The husband must have a good attitude towards his wife and be kind to her, and offer her everything that may soften her heart towards him, because Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“…and live with them honourably.”
[al-Nisa 4:19]
(c) Not harming one’s wife
This is one of the basic principles of Islam. Because harming others is haram in the case of strangers, it is even more so in the case of harming one’s wife.
Rights of Husband in Islam
The rights of the husband over his wife are among the greatest rights; indeed his rights over her are greater than her rights over him, because Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And they (women) have rights (over their husbands as regards living expenses) similar (to those of their husbands) over them (as regards obedience and respect) to what is reasonable, but men have a degree (of responsibility) over them.” [al-Baqarah 2:228]
al-Jassas said: Allah tells us in this verse that each of the spouses has rights over the other, and that the husband has one particular right over his wife which she does not have over him.
Ibn al-‘Arabi said: this text states that he has some preference over her with regard to rights and duties of marriage.
These rights include:
(a) The obligation of obedience
Allah has made the man a qawwaam (protector and maintainer) of the woman by commanding, directing and taking care of her, just as guardians take care of their charges, by virtue of the physical and mental faculties that Allah has given only to men and the financial obligations that He has enjoined upon them.
Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has made one of them to excel the other, and because they spend (to support them) from their means.” [al-Nisa 4:34]
(b) Making herself available to her husband
One of the rights that the husband has over his wife is that he should be able to enjoy her (physically). If he marries a woman and she is able to have intercourse, she is obliged to submit herself to him according to the contract, if he asks her. That is after he gives her the immediate mahr, and gives her some time 2 or three days, if she asks for that – to sort herself out, because that is something that she needs, and because that is not too long and is customary.
If a wife refuses to respond to her husband’s request for intercourse , she has done something haram and has committed a major sin, unless she has a valid shar’i excuse such as menses, obligatory fasting, sickness, etc.
Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: ‘When a man calls his wife to his bed and she refuses, and he went to sleep angry with her, the angels will curse her until morning.’”
(Narrated by al-Bukhari, 3065; Muslim, 1436)
(c) Not admitting anyone whom the husband dislikes
One of the rights that the husband has over his wife is that she should not permit anyone whom he dislikes to enter his house.
Abu Hurayrah (RA) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “It is not permitted for a woman to fast when her husband is present without his permission, or to admit anyone into his house without his permission. And whatever she spends (in charity) of his wealth without his consent, ….” (Narrated by al-Bukhari, 4899; Muslim, 1026)
(d) Not going out of the house except with the husband’s permission
One of the rights of the husband over his wife is that she should not go out of the house except with his permission.
The Shafi’is and Hanbalis said: she does not have the right to visit (even) her sick father except with the permission of her husband, and he has the right to prevent her from doing that… because obedience to the husband is obligatory, and it is not permitted to neglect an obligatory action for something that is not obligatory.
(e) Discipline
The husband has the right to discipline his wife if she disobeys him in something good, not if she disobeys him in something sinful, because Allah has enjoined disciplining women by forsaking them in bed and by hitting them (lightly and if there is any benefit in that), when they do not obey.
(f) The wife serving her husband
There is a great deal of evidence (dalil) for this, some of which has been mentioned above.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said:
She is obliged to serve her husband according to what is reasonable among people of similar standing. That varies according to circumstances: the way in which a Bedouin woman serves (her husband) will not be like the way of a town-dweller, and the way of a strong woman will not be like the way of a weak woman. (al-Fatawa al-Kubra, 4/561)
(g) Submitting herself to him
Once the conditions of the marriage contract have been fulfilled and it is valid, then the woman is obliged to submit herself to her husband and allow him to enjoy her (physically). This is because once the contract is completed, he is allowed in return to enjoy her, and the wife is entitled to the compensation which is the mahr.
(h)The wife should treat her husband in a good manner
Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And they (women) have rights (over their husbands as regards living expenses) similar (to those of their husbands) over them (as regards obedience and respect) to what is reasonable.” [al-Baqarah 2:228] Al-Qurtubi said:
“It was also narrated from him – i.e., Ibn ‘Abbas – that this means: they have the right to good companionship and kind and reasonable treatment from their husbands just as they are obliged to obey the commands of their husbands. And it was said that they have the right that their husbands should not harm them, and their husbands have a similar right over them. This was the view of al-Tabari.
Ibn Zayd said: You should fear Allah concerning them just as they should fear Allah concerning you.
The meanings are similar, and the ayah includes all of that in the rights and duties of marriage.” (Tafsir al-Qurtubi, 3/123-124)
And Allah knows best.
Source: islamqa.info/en/answers
