Part 23

Obedience is only with respect to what is good and acceptable (maroof).”

(2) Remaining in the House and Not Going out except with the Husband’s Permission

Allah says in the Quran, Fan CCE a en aa ee a I Seed HEY SS Bos, “And stay in your houses and do not display yourselves like that during the times of Ignorance” (al-Ahzaab 33). In this verse, Allah ordered the

wives of the Prophet (peace be upon him), and the women of this Nation also follow them in this order, to remain in their houses as a protection

' Recorded by ibn Hibbaan in his Sabeeb (#4163), The Book on Marriage: Mention of the prescri ing of Paradise for the woman when she obeys her husband as well as fulfills the obligatory duties toward Allah. [This hadith has been graded sahib by both al-Albaani and Shuaib al-Arnaoot. See al-Albaani, Sabeeb al-Jaami al-Sagheer, vol. 1, p. 174; Ameer al-Deen al-Faarisi, Al-Jbsaan fi Tagreeb Saheeb ibn Hibbaan, Shuaib al-Amaoot, ed. (Beirut: Muassasat al-Risaalah, 1991), vol. 9, p. 471—JzZ]

Recorded. by al-Bukhari (#4340), Book on Military Expeditions, Chapter on the expedition of Abdullah ibn Hudhaafah al-Sahmi and Algamah ibn Muharriz alMudlaji; Muslim (#1840) Book on Governmental Authority, Chapter on the obligation to obey the ruler on matters that are not acts of disobedience and its prohibition on matters that are acts of disobedience.

‘The Figh of Marriage

for them and a way of guarding the rights of their husbands. They are not to leave their houses except due to true needs.! Shaikh al-Islam ibn Taimiyah stated,

It is not allowed for a wife to leave her house except by the permission of her husband. It is not allowed for anyone to take her from him or to prevent her from going to him, even if she be a nursing mother, midwife or of any other type of occupation. If she leaves the house of her husband without his permission, she is being recalcitrant (naashizah), disobedient to Allah and His Messenger and deserving of punishment.”

(3) Responding to His Call When He Calls Her to His Bed

This was discussed earlier.

(4) Not Allowing Anyone to Enter His House except with His Permission

It is not permissible for the wife to allow someone to enter her husband’s house if that is displeasing to the husband. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said,

se seb ee fabystet a hfe ae be

The preferred interpretation is that permission should not be given to anyone to enter your houses and sit on your

' See Tafseer ibn Katheer, vol 3 Majmoo al-Fatawaa, vol. 32, :

Recorded by Muslim in his (#1218), The Book on the Pilgrimage, Chapter on the pilgrimage of the Prophet (peace be upon him); it is part of the farewell speech of the Prophet (peace be uponthim),

The Figh of Marriage

furnishings whom he [the husband] dislikes. This is regardless if the one given permission is a non-related man, a woman or one of the wife’s relatives. The prohibition extends to all of them. The wife is not to permit any man, woman, relative or otherwise [to enter into her husband’s house] unless she knows or believes that the husband does not dislike that person [to enter].

Sahih Muslim also contains the hadith of Abu Hurairah who narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said,

Lond ee ee ne Po 5b YU Say a GOS “(The wife] is not to allow anyone into his house while he is present except with his permission.”* In al-Fath, ibn Hajr made the following

The condition, “while he is present,” is not meant to imply anything to the contrary but is simply stated as what is the normal case. In other words, simply because the husband is not present does not mean that the wife is now allowed to permit anyone she wishes to enter his house. In fact, the prohibition in that case is even more stressed based on other confirmed hadith with prohibit her from allowing those to enter while he is not present.?

Al-Imam al-Nawawi wrote that this indicates that she cannot usurp the authority of the husband by permitting anyone to enter into his house except with his permission. This is applied to those cases where the wife does not know of the husband’s non-objection to a specific person. If she knows that her husband is pleased with a person, there is no harm upon her [if she allows that person to enter his house], such as when it was the custom of the husband to allow his guests to enter a

3 See Sharh sahih Muslim.

sahih Muslim (#1026), the Book of zakah, Chapter on what a slave can spend from the wealth of his master,

Fath al-Baari, vol. 9, p. 296.

The Figh of Marriage

specific part of the house, regardless of whether he is present or absent. In that case, she is not in need of specific permission from the husband to allow them to enter.

(5) Serving the Husband

From the rights of the husband upon the wife is that she must serve him in such matters as bringing up the children, preparing his food, taking care of the clothes and so forth. This is proper as a result of his being in charge of the affairs and it is one of the goals of a sound marriage. In this way, the structural make-up of the household and the affairs of the household will be according to what is natural. The wife should neither disdain nor be too proud to serve her husband if she has the ability to do so and he wants that from her.

In the Sahihs of al-Bukhari and Muslim it states that Faatimah, the daughter of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), went to the Prophet (peace be upon him) to complain about the harm her hand was receiving from the stone handmill. She had heard that the Prophet (peace be upon him) had just received some slaves. However, she did not find the Prophet (peace be upon him), so she told Aishah about the matter and when the Prophet (peace be upon him) came, Aishah informed him about Fatima’s request. Ali ibn Abu Taalib said, “So he came to us when we had gone to bed. We were going to get up for him but he said, ‘Stay in your places.’ He came and sat between us and I could feel the coldness of his feet upon my stomach. He said, ‘Shall I not guide you to something that is better than what you have asked for? When you go to your beds, extol Allah’s perfection thirty-three times [by saying subhaanallahj, praise Allah thirty-three times and extol Allah’s greatness thirty-four times. That is better for you than a servant.’ I never abandoned that practice afterwards.” He was asked, “Not even on the night of the Battle of Siffeen?” He replied, “Not even on the night of the Battle of Siffeen.”!

| Sabib al-Bukbari in a number of places, including (#5361), the Book on

Expenditures, Chapter on the wife working in the house of her husband; Sabib Muslim (#2182), Book on Greeting, Chapter on the permissibility of giving a lift to. a

The Figh of Marriage

It has been authentically narrated from Asmaa bint Abu Bakr alSiddeeq that she said, “I used to serve al-Zubair ibn al-Awwaam— her husband— concerning all of the matters within the house. He used to hhave a horse that I used to take care of and give it its fodder. I would feed the horse and draw water for it.” She would also sew the waterbucket and prepare the dough. She used to carry the dates upon her head from [al-Zubair’s] land which was about two miles away from her house.!

Shaikh al-Islam ibn Taimiyah said:

The scholars have disputed over whether or not it is obligatory upon her [the wife} to serve him [the husband] in things like taking care of the household items, serving the food, drink, bread, flour, food for his slaves and his animals, such as preparing fodder for his horse and so on. Some say that such service is not obligatory. That opinion is weak, like the weakness of those who say that it is not obligatory upon him to have intimacy and sexual relations with her. This [not serving the husbands] means she is not treating him in a good manner. In fact, the companion on a journey, who is similar to a person and his mate ina household, if he does not help in doing what is needed has not treated his companion in the proper way.

It is said— and it is correct— that such service is obligatory. The husband is described as her master [or lord, sayyid] in the Book of Allah.? She is like his captive as described in the sunnah of the Messenger of Allah

non-related woman if she is exhausted on the road. Siffeen is a place on the banks of the Euphrates wherein took place the famous battle between Ali and Muawiyah (may allah be pleased with both of them) in the year 37 A.H. (Mujam al-Buldaan, vol. 3,

14). Ps See Sabib alser (#5224), Sabib Muslim (#2182), Musnad al-Imaam

He is relerring, 4 the verse, they both found her master at the door" (Yoosuf 25).

‘The Figh of Marriage

(peace be upon him).! It is obligatory upon the captive and the slave to serve. That is what is well-known and accepted. Then there are some who say that light service is what is obligatory upon her while others say that the service that is customary and accepted is what is obligatory upon her. [The latter opinion] is the correct opinion. She must serve her husband according to what is customary for someone like her with respect to someone like him. The situation differs under different circumstances. The serving by the bedouin woman is not like that by the city woman. The serving by the strong woman is not like that by a weak woman.?

Those who say that her serving [her husband] is obligatory cite as an argument the fact that such was the customary practice among those whom Allah addressed with His speech. Furthermore, the dower is in exchange for the right to sexual intercourse. But each spouse fulfills his [or her] desire with the other. Therefore, Allah has obliged the man to maintain her, clothe her and give her housing in exchange for being able to enjoy her and for her serving him. And this has been the normal custom among the spouses. And again, the contracts that are left