Can A Husband Make Use Of His Wife’s Earnings?

Can A Husband Make Use Of His Wife’s Earnings?

Darulifta Ahlesunnat

(Dawateislami)

Question

  What do the scholars of Islam say regarding the following matter: Can a man make use of his wife’s earnings?

بِسْمِ اللہِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِیْمِ

اَلْجَوَابُ بِعَوْنِ الْمَلِکِ الْوَھَّابِ اَللّٰھُمَّ ھِدَایَۃَ الْحَقِّ وَالصَّوَابِ

  Those things which are in the ownership of the woman, regardless of whether she received it through inheritance, as bridal dowry, as a gift or earned it herself; the ruling in regards to all of them is that it is the property of the woman; the husband has no right over it whatsoever and he cannot make use of it without the permission of the wife. However, it is not necessary that he be granted permission explicitly; implicit permission will be sufficient. For example, both husband and wife have a mutual understanding and agreement between themselves, due to which their utilising of each other’s possessions does not bother them, then those things to which this applies will be permissible to use. For example, there are many household items which the woman receives as a marriage gift, however, due to their being mutual understanding between husband and wife, the husband also makes use of them and the wife does not mind, therefore, their use is implicitly permitted. In those situations in which this is not found, the husband will have to get explicit permission. If a woman tailors clothes etc. at home or earns money through other lawful means, the wife will find it objectionable if the husband was to spend that money on himself without obtaining her permission. Therefore, in order to spend the woman’s earnings on himself, he will be required to receive explicit permission. However, with her approval, a woman’s money can be spent in the home; for example, groceries and other things can be bought with it, which are used to cook food etc. Just like the others within the household, the husband may also utilise these purchased items. In many homes, the case is that both the husband and wife work and run the house together, thus, if food or other household items are bought with the women’s earnings, the husband may also partake of that as there is already implicit permission found here.

  Warning: In regards to a woman working, the following ruling must be duly noted: There are five conditions which must be fulfilled in order for her to be permitted to work. If even a single condition is not fulfilled, it will be Haram (unlawful) for her to work. The five conditions are as follows:

  Any part of a limb which is Fard to cover, such as the hair, neck, wrist and calf etc., must not be visible.

  The clothes should not be so thin that the hair, wrist or any other body part that must be covered can be seen.

  The clothes must not be so tight and fitted that the form of the body becomes apparent (for example, the plumpness of the chest or the roundness of the calf etc.); some women wear such tight pants that the shape of the calf becomes apparent, it is forbidden to present oneself in front of Non-Mahrams in this state.

She should never be alone with a Non-Mahram for even a single moment.

  There should be no fear of any mischief occurring whilst she is there (at the workplace) or in her travelling there and back.

وَاللہُ اَعْلَمُ  عَزَّوَجَلَّ  وَرَسُوْلُہ اَعْلَم صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم

Answered by:Mufti Fuzail Raza Attari