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The council of the Islamic Fiqh Academy, a subsidiary organ of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, in its sixteenth session, which was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, issued a resolution and a Fatwa regarding the differences between the working husband and wife and the independent financial liability of both spouses.
First: The Independent Financial Liability of Both Spouses
The wife enjoys full legal competence and an independent financial liability. She is absolutely entitled, within the framework of Sharee‘ah rulings, to all that she earns from her work and to her own private property. She has a right to own and to dispose of all that she owns. The husband has no authority over her property and she does not need his permission to own and dispose of her property.
Second: Marital Financial Maintenance
The wife deserves complete marital financial maintenance which is determined according to what is acceptable, the husband’s financial ability and sound and Sharee‘ah-approved social customs. This financial maintenance is obligatory on the husband, but not if the wife is defiantly disobedient.
Third: The Wife’s Work Outside the House
1- Taking care of the family, raising the children and looking after the future generation, are some of the basic responsibilities of the wife. She has the right, in case of need, to work outside the house provided that this work befits her nature and specialization, that doing so coincides with Sharee‘ah-approved customs, that she abides by the rulings of Islam and Sharee‘ah etiquettes and that she observes her basic responsibilities.
2- The wife’s going out to work does not eradicate her right to receive financial maintenance from her husband, which is obligatory on him, as long as her going to work does not involve a type of arrogance or condescension that makes the husband no longer required to provide for her.
Fourth: The Wife’s Support of Family’s Expenses
1- According to the Sharee‘ah, it is not obligatory on the wife to share in paying the expenses of the family which are by default obligatory on the husband. It is impermissible to oblige her to do this.
2- The wife’s voluntary support in paying for the expenses of the family is recommended under Sharee‘ah because doing so will achieve cooperation, unity and harmony between the spouses.
3- It is permissible for the spouses to reach an understanding and an agreement concerning the wife’s salary or wages.
4- If the wife’s going out for work results in extra expenditure, she should pay for this.
Fifth: Work Set as a Condition
1- It is permissible for the wife to put work outside the house as a condition in the marital contract. If the husband agrees, then he is required to fulfill that condition. Stipulation should be done explicitly when concluding the marital contract.
2- It is permissible for the husband to ask his wife to leave her work, after permitting her to work, if leaving it is for the family’s and the children’s welfare.
3- It is not permissible under the Sharee‘ah to make the permission (or the stipulation) contingent on her paying for the family’s expenses which are originally obligatory on the husband or giving him part of her salary.
4- The husband has no right to compel his wife to work outside the house.
Sixth: The Wife’s Share in Ownership
If the wife actually helps in supporting the family with her own property or earnings in paying for a house, some real estate or a commercial project, she has the right to have a share in the ownership of the house or the project - according to the percentage of money that she invested.
Seventh: Abusing the Right to Work
1- In marriage, there are mutual rights and duties between the spouses, and they are determined by the Sharee‘ah. The relation between the spouses should be based on justice, solidarity, support and mercy, and it is prohibited to violate these bases.
2- It is impermissible for the husband to abuse the right of preventing the wife from working or of asking her to leave work if in doing so he intends to harm her or if leaving her work will result in a harm that is greater than the expected benefit.
3- This also applies to the wife if she intends, by remaining in her work, to harm the husband or the family or if her work results in a harm that is greater than the expected benefit.
Recommendations
· The Academy recommends conducting social, economic and medical studies on the effects of the wife’s work outside the house on the family, as well as on the wife herself. These studies will reveal the facts of the issue. Samples of these studies should be from different societies.
· The Academy stresses the obligation of inculcating the concept of integration between the spouses and the keenness of Islam on building the relation between them on affection and mercy.
· The Academy recommends holding a special symposium that deals with the affairs of the Muslim woman in general, and her role in developing the Islamic society in particular. This should be done in accordance with civilizational development, and according to the criteria of the Sharee‘ah so as to reach resolutions and recommendations that should be accredited by all Islamic governments and institutions before the international conferences about women and population.
