Part 28

A: All praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. If the husband married her according to the legal code and he used to support her with food as it is common with all people, neither she nor her father has the right to demand for financial support.

This was the custom of the Prophet (peace be upon him), his companions and all Muslims in each and every time and this is the ruling delivered by all scholars. If a person charged the husband to give his father-in-law a sum of money in order to buy food for his daughter, he has thu acted in disconformity with the Sunnah of the Prophe (peace be upon him) and the practice of the Muslims, even if some people adopted this opinion.

Supporting a woman means providing her with food and the necessities of life, not saving money for her.

a. The father’s reception of such money is a useless act.

b. Demanding for such money does not require the husband’s permission, because he is obliged to support her according to the legal code. If her father prevented him from supporting her, his saying is not taken into consideration.

c.Such case depends on the prevalent custom which supports the husband in this regard.

It is not to be claimed that the father has not asked the

husband to support her for the following two reasons:

1.The husband is responsible for her according to the legal code and he is to provide her with all her rights such as her physical needs, allotting a day for her in case he married other women and any other rights. According to the Holy Qur’an and Sunnah, men are guardians and supporters of women and women are to be cared for and protected by men.

2.The prevalent custom followed by people in this case supports the husband. Allah knows best.

When a man is imprisoned because he did not settle his wife’s financial support and provide her with the necessary clothes, is it permissible for her to demand for support during his imprisonment?

Q: When a man is imprisoned because he did not settle his wife’s financial support and provide her with the necessary clothes, is it permissible for her to demand for support during his imprisonment?

A: If he was insolvent and she imprisoned him, she is unjust and she thus denied him his rights entitled on her. During the period of his imprisonment, she does not deserve financial support.

Yet, if he was able to support her and he refrained from giving her due rights after she demanded for them, he is an unjust husband. If she did not refrain from his rights entitled on her, she must have her due financial support.

If a wife was of no avail to her husband for two years because of her illness, does she deserve financial support?

Q: If a wife was of no avail to her husband for two years because of her illness, does she deserve financial support? If she does not deserve and a judge issued a legal ruling that she is entitled to have financial support, is the husband obliged to pay it?

A: Yes, she deserves support according to the unanimous agreement of the four Juristic Schools.

When a man divorces his wife while she is pregnant, but later she was aborted, does she deserve alimony?

Q: When a man divorces his wife while she is pregnant. but later she was aborted, does she deserve alimony?

A: If she was aborted and thus her waiting period is over, she does not deserve alimony whether the fetus had been body and soul or not, provided that he had been fully created as a human being. If he had not been fully created, this is a controversial point of disagreement among scholars.

Is the husband entitled to pay the waiting period alimony to his wife if she did not spend it at the place he had determined for this purpose?

Q: A man divorced his wife thrice and he ordered her to spend the waiting period at her house, but she left it before the waiting period is over. The husband asked about her and checked that she left the house. Does she deserve the waiting period alimony?

A: She does not deserve such alimony neither has she the right to demand for it on the past period according to the unanimous agreement of the four Juristic Schools. Allah knows best.

Is it permissible for the husband to ask his wife

to give him the cost of supporting her child who belongs to a former husband?

Q: A man married a woman who had a_ child froma former husband. His father supports him with money which the wife receives. The current husband used to support the child for years. When he married, there had been an amount of five Dinars as a portion of the dowry to be paid to the wife at that time. The wife stipulated that she would not demand for such money as long as he supports her child. She did not appoint a certain sum of money as a financial support to the child. Is it permissible for the husband to ask his wife for the cost of supporting her child during the period the child lived with him?

A: If he did not fulfill the condition which his wife stipulated, he does not have the right to demand for the cost of supporting the child once he did so willingly. He does not volunteer such money whether he supported the child as per his mother’s permission or not.

Is a rich son entitled to support his old father, his wife and brothers?

Q: A man became incapable of earning his living and he does not have money to support him. He has a wife and children. Is his rich son entitled to support him, his wife and young brothers?

A: All praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. Yes, a rich son is entitled to support his father, his wife and his younger brothers. If he did not do so, he has disobeyed his father and severed relations with him and he deserves the penalty of Allah in this world and the Hereafter. Allah

Is it permissible to give one’s relatives out of one’s Zakah and Kaffarah? What is the legal ruling on giving charity to needy relatives?

Q: What is the legal ruling on giving charity to needy relatives?

A: If one’s money is not sufficient to support his relatives and non-relatives, he is obliged to support his relatives first and he should not give charity to non-relatives while his relatives need it. As for Zakah and Kaffarah, it is permissible to give relatives out of them, provided that he is not entitled to support them such as his wife ... etc. If relatives and non-relatives are equally poor, it is rather better to give them to one’s relatives.

Nursing the baby Who is to nurse the baby? When is it permissible for the nursing mother to demand for financial support?

Q: A man married a woman and he died leaving an eightyear-old child. The man’s father is still alive. The wife asks her father-in-law to support her. Then the wife got married and was divorced. Her father-in-law did not know about this marriage. Later, she took the child and traveled, while his grandfather does not know. Is he entitled to support her with money?

A: Once the mother got married, she does not have the right to nurse the child. If she left her town and traveled, the grandfather has the right to take the child. This woman does not deserve to nurse the child and if she demanded for alimony, she does not have the right to obtain it. If the grandfather is insolvent, he is not entitled to support his grandson.

When a mother takes her child and agrees with her former husband that she will support their child, but later she demanded for financial support, is it permissible?

Q: A man has a seven-year-old child and his former wife married another man. The man took the child under his custody according to the rulings of the revered Shari* ah and because there is no other supporter for him. His former wife decided to take the child under her custody for a certain period. The man is afraid that once he did so, his

former wife may demand for financial support and clothes. Is it permissible for her to demand for them? If they agreed that the mother will take the child while the father will pay nothing, is this permissible?

A: All praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. So long as she took the child and she supports him and agreed with her former husband on this matter, she does not have the right to demand for financial support according to the unanimous agreement of Muslim scholars. Yet, if she wants to demand for financial support in the future, the father has the right to take the child back and she is not to take him under her custody. If they agreed that she would have the child and support him, is such an agreement binding? This is a controversial point among scholars. According to Malik, it is binding. Therefore, it is permissible to make such agreement. Allah knows best.

Is it permissible for a father to oblige his son to travel oversees without the son’s or mother’s consent?

Q: A man has a son who traveled oversees to care for his father’s trade. He has another son in his teens and his mother is divorced. This son lives with his maternal grandparents. His father wants him to travel in the company of his elder brother. Yet, the son and his mother

do not agree to such voyage. Is it permissible for the father to oblige his son to travel?

A: The son is to choose whether to live with his father or his mother. If he chose to stay with his unmarried mother, he has the right to do so and the father can not oblige him to travel. Yet, he should go to his father during the day in order to teach him and return to his mother at night. If he chose to live with his father, he has the right to do so. If he decided to stay with his father and the father saw that he should travel, and there is no harm to travel, the father has the right to order him to travel. Allah knows best.