Reclaiming Financial Contribution from Ex-Husband

                           5th October 2021

 

Question: Is it necessary for the wife to financially contribute towards the home? What finances can she reclaim from her husband and is Khula permissible for him not financially contributing?   

 

الجواب حامداً و مصلياً

In the name of Allāh, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

 

Answer

Islamically it is the husband who bears all financial outgoings and general maintenance of the house. Islām does not burden the wife to take charge of all outgoing expenses. If she voluntarily spends from her earnings or the couple mutually agree to share outgoing expenses between them then there is no harm. One of the final admonishes of the Messenger of Allāh e to his Ummah in his lengthy farewell speech was to uphold the rights of women in which he also included, “…and for them (wives) you bear (the responsibility of) feeding them and clothing them with kindness.”[1] Stipulating food and clothing is mere coincidental as these were the most common expenditures otherwise the essence of the Hadeeth suggests that the husband is the main breadwinner and provider, not his wife.

Resorting to Khula must be on valid grounds and mutually agreed between both parties. Apart from the husband’s shortcomings in his financial responsibilities, other factors causing his wife to undergo extreme difficulty during the marriage must exist for Khula to be valid. When Khula occurs on valid grounds, she is eligible for financial maintenance during her waiting period that follows the Khula procedure.

She can reclaim all of her personal belongings and anything that she owns. Anything she gave to him as a loan to which he acknowledged at the time then she can reclaim that. If what she contributed towards the home was as a gift and not with the intention of loan, she cannot reclaim from him.

 

 [Allãh Knows Best]

 

 

Written and researched by (Mufti) Abdul Waheed

Answer Attested by Shaykh Mufti Saiful Islam

JKN Fatawa Department

 

[1] Saheeh Muslim