What Can We Do if My Father Doesn’t Pay For the House Bills?
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
My father has been unemployed since COVID-19 and has tried multiple times to get a job but hasn’t succeeded. He has no savings, so my mother and I pay the bills and tuition of my younger sibling. He had an old property and sold it, yet decided to invest the money in a business with the prospect of having a stable income insha’Allah. Yet, in the meantime, my mother and I still do all the spending. Is he obligated to use the money of the property, or is it best to invest it as he prayed Istikhara for it?
Months have passed, and he’s moved abroad for this business project. The business isn’t profitable, and he needs to be capable of maintaining us. He believes that his calling was to become the imam of the community. What is the fatwa ruling?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.
The husband is the breadwinner and is responsible for looking for a job, paying the bills, and maintaining the household expenses. Everything the wife and children do is a support.
As you mentioned, he has done istikhara; give him a little time. Then, if it doesn’t work out, he should use that money to find a job and help maintain the family and household expenses.
“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]
I would like you to go through the valuable answers and links below. You will receive guidance and direction, in sha’ Allah.
Related:
- How Can I Convince My Husband to Become the Breadwinner of the Family?
- Do Husbands Have Any Rights to Their Wives’ Income?
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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.
