Do Husbands Have Any Rights to Their Wives’ Income?
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
Do husbands have any rights to their wives’ income? Does Islam allow him to take half of her income because he feeds and shelters her and uses the excuse that she once promised to contribute if she got a job?
Yes, I said I’d contribute, but it was jokingly when he wouldn’t happily give me money so I could buy personal needs, so I said once I get a job, I’ll give you money because you’re my husband, and what’s mine is yours, and I won’t be like you.
And now he holds me accountable for those words, and if I don’t pay him on time every month, he becomes abusive. I’m not happy and don’t give from the bottom of my heart; I give because I’m afraid.
Please guide me.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
I pray you are well. Thank you for seeking an Islamic answer.
The husband has no rights over his wife’s income, let alone take half of her income. He is the responsible breadwinner. However, the wife has a right over her husband’s income through expenses and care. If both possess and earn wealth, they have their own choice of spending it.
Men Are Caretakers of Their Wives, and Women Are Protectors of Their Wealth
In a marriage, both husband and wife need harmony, cooperation, compromise, love, and balance. If both are earning, the man’s wealth and earnings should show more on the overall running of a home; as he is the provider, he should not be dependent on her. A husband cannot demand as much money from his wife’s wealth as a woman can. He can request her; to be considerate, gentle, and wise in doing so.
“Men are the caretakers of women, as men have been provisioned by Allah over women and tasked with supporting them financially. And righteous women are devoutly obedient and, when alone, protective of what Allah has entrusted them with.” [Quran, 4:34]
A husband and wife in a marriage must compromise with each other, support and spend on each other, on family needs, and not waste money unnecessarily. Just as a husband should look to fulfill all the needs of his wife and does everything to make her marital life a happy one, so too, if the need arises, the wife must try her best to fulfill all her husband’s needs and do everything to make his marital life a happy one.
I suggest you sit down and talk the matter over with a local Imam, a reliable local scholar, come to a mutual solution, and understand each other’s rights.
Why not begin your search for knowledge by signing up for a course on SeekersGuidance?
I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
