Q681 :May I put to you the case of a married couple,
both of whom are medical doctors. The husband takes up a job in Saudi
Arabia and his wife joins him two years later. When she applies for a
job, he makes an effort to help her secure the job. However, after she
has started working, he begins to claim all her wages. He says that
under Islam a woman is entitled only to money she brings with her from
her father’s home. Whatever she earns after marriage belongs to her
husband. It is needless for me to say that this has caused a great deal
of problems within that family. The woman finds herself paying for all
the family expenses, while the husband uses his salary to buy houses
and property back home in his own name. She is not even able to send a
portion of her salary to her parents. She feels very bad about this.
She realizes that her parents have a claim on her wages, because they
worked hard to enable her to follow her studies until she graduated. It
is time for them to enjoy some netfort as a result of bringing up their
daughter to this stage. The husband blocks all that. I will be grateful
for your netments on this situation.
A681 : As you realize, Allah has guarantied that the
message of Islam will be preserved intact for all time because He wants
it to be implemented in human life in all ages and in all netmunities.
Therefore, He has made it adaptable to all situations, so that people
cannot argue that the conditions prevailing in their netmunity make it
impossible to implement the divine message. This is one of the
essential characteristics of Islam which add to its strength. There is
no doubt that social conditions differ from one netmunity to another.
We cannot netpare a tribal or nomadic netmunity to the social
conditions prevailing in an industrialized society. Indeed, the
conditions within the same country differ from rural to urban areas.
How, then, can one set of teachings be applicable to all netmunities in
all ages? The answer is found in the fact that Islam provides certain
guide-lines and allows every netmunity to conduct its life the way it
likes, within the framework provided by its general guide-lines and
principles. In the overall social set up, Islam defines rights and
duties. However, where it is possible for a human being to usurp the
rights of others, Islam defines these rights very clearly. Moreover,
Islam establishes a perfect balance between rights and
responsibilities. It is not acceptable from the Islamic point of view
that a certain person enjoys certain rights without having to fulfil
certain duties in return. Otherwise, if a person can require another
to do certain things by way of duty, without giving that person certain
rights, that benetes a case of exploitation which leads to much
injustices. It goes without saying that exploitation and injustice
undermine the very existence of any netmunity in which they prevail. A
relationship which involves injustice is hateful to Allah. He says in a
Qudsi Hadith: “My servants, I have forbidden Myself injustice and I
have made injustice forbidden to you. Therefore, do not be unjust to
one another.” With regard to family relations, Islam imposes certain
duties on both husband and wife in return for certain rights which it
assigns to each of them. The balance between the rights and duties of
each is a perfect one. In this way, Islam secures a happy life for the
family. When both husband and wife fulfil their duties, they will enjoy
their rights. According to Islam, a woman is not required to work in
order to earn her living. Her husband is responsible to ensure a decent
standard of living for her according to his means. Even when a woman is
richer than her husband, her wealth does not deprive her of the right
to be supported by him. If he takes advantage of her wealth in order to
leave his duty unfilled, without having first secured her consent to
this arrangement, then he is accountable for his misdeed. It is open to
her to seek divorce on grounds of her not being supported by her
husband. An Islamic court will have no hesitation to issue an order
nullifying the marriage if the husband will not honour his
responsibility. It may be useful to add here that an unmarried woman
also does not need to work for her living. She is entitled to be
supported by her parents or her immediate relatives, such as her
brothers. However, if a woman decides to work, Islam does not stop her
from doing so. It is important to know what rights and duties benete
applicable when a woman takes up employment. It is netmon knowledge
that Islam considers a woman equal to man with regard to the rights of
ownership and disposal of property as well as conducting her own
business transactions and netmercial dealings. Therefore, when a woman
earns something from her work, her earnings belong totally to her. If
she is unmarried, her father cannot claim her earnings as his own.
Similarly, a woman’s husband cannot put any claim to her earnings. It
may be suggested here that when a married woman goes out to work, she
leaves her household duties undone. Therefore, the husband is entitled,
or so it is claimed, at least to share of the salary or earnings of his
wife. We have to examine this argument a little more carefully. The
duties of a wife toward her husband, according to Islamic law, are well
defined. They do not include doing any cleaning, ironing, cooking or
any other household work. Marriage is a contractual relationship which
allows a man and woman to fulfil their desires in a legitimate way. If
a woman takes an undertaking which prevents her from meeting that
responsibility, then her husband has the right to prevent that
undertaking. Someone may ask at this point: Who is then to do the
housework? The answer is two fold: If we are speaking strictly from
the points of view of rights and duties, it is not the duty of the
woman to do the housework in her husband’s home. If he wants the work
done, he has to see to it that it is done. Life is not all about rights
and duties. There is much more in the marital relationship than duties
and rights. There is what Islam terms “netpanionship based on
goodwill.” It is under this heading that the duties and
responsibilities of the family are divided among the husband and
wife. When we ask for guide-lines on this particular point, they are
readily available. At a certain stage, there was some disagreement
between Fatima, the Prophet’s daughter and her husband, Ali who was the
Prophet’s cousin. They put their disagreement to him, requesting him to
define their responsibilities for them. The Prophet said to his
daughter: “You do the work that must be done inside the home, and he
does what need to be done outside.” This divison of the family work is
both fair and practical. What we may deduce from all this is that if a
woman does not do the work that has to be done inside the family home,
she fails on meeting the requirement of the netpanionship and goodwill.
It is open to her husband to divorce her if she persistently refuses to
do it. She may argue that it is not her duty, but as we have said,
there is much more to family life than strict duties. When a woman
wants to go out to work, her husband may prevent her from doing so, if
he feels that her job will seriously affect the family, especially with
regard to the upbringing of the children. However, if she was working
when they got married, and he has not indicated to her at the time of
his proposal that he wants her to quit her job, this is taken as
consent on his part to her working. He may not withdraw that consent
after marriage. It is not open to him then to ask her to leave her job.
If she refuses, she is within her rights. This is absolutely fair,
because the fact that he has not made his intention clear to her about
her continued working is regarded as agreement to the situation which
obtained before their marriage. As for the salary she receives from
her work, or indeed her earnings, these belong to her. She may
determine how she uses her innete. If she wants to help her own family
with part or all of her innete, she is only being dutiful and she will
be rewarded by Allah for being so.In this particular case, which we are
examining, there is no doubt that the husband is taking advantage of
his wife. To claim that what she earns belongs to him, is absolutely
unjust. He cannot justify it in any way. If she does not agree to give
it to him, he is taking it unlawfully. He may not treat it as his own
money. He must obtain her permission before taking it. If she does not
give him that permission, he must not touch it. Some people suggest
that since both husband and wife are working, they should share the
family expenses. The answer to this suggestion is that this is possible
only by mutual agreement. What we have to understand is that the
husband has no right to what his wife may earn or own. If she willingly
gives him something of it, he is welnete to have it. If he hustles or
pressures or cajoles her in order to obtain something from her, he is
taking it unjustly and he will be punished by Allah for doing so.The
woman in this case is surrendering her rights against her will. She
must find some way of making it clear to her husband that what he is
taking from her is unlawful to him. If he continues to claim it by
right, then she should look at bringing about a drastic change in their
relationship.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )