Is a Woman Required to Live Wherever Her Husband Chooses?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

Is a woman required to live wherever her husband chooses, even if she has her own residence secured?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

It is established in the Sacred Law that a wife has the right of residence (Haqq al-Sukna), and it is the husband’s responsibility to provide it for her. [al-Mawsu’a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya]

Right of Residence (Haqq al-Sukna)

Allah Most High says, “Provide to them (the divorced women) residence where you reside according to your means, and do not hurt them to straiten (life) for them…” [Quran, 65:6]

Scholars mention that if a woman to whom a revocable divorce is pronounced has the right to be provided residence, then a wife is even more deserving. [al-Mawsu’a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya]

Choosing the Location of the Residence

It is the husband’s right over the wife that she reside where he chooses as long as she is safe in her person and possessions. [Ibid.]

However, it is not permissible for him to force her to reside in a place where she is not safe and/or where she is completely alone without someone to comfort her (and/or protect her), and there are no righteous neighbors. This is part of what Allah prohibits: “…and do not hurt them to straiten (life) for them…” [Quran, 65:6] [Ibid]

A likely reason is that choosing where she resides relates to many of the husband’s rights and responsibilities.

Quality of Residence

Despite the husband’s right to have her reside where he wishes, he is required to provide her residence that is (a) equivalent quality of housing, to the best of his ability, as corresponds to her status and (b) separate from any other wives or family members of his. [Ibid.]

Summary

The above is the ruling at the level of the Sacred Law. That said, if a husband is to uphold the Prophetic example, he must treat his wife with care and respect and honor her by consulting her and come to a compromise that is in everyone’s best interest.

Recourse to the specifics of the letter of the Law as described is usually done when an agreement or compromise cannot be reached. This usually occurs when one or both parties fails to uphold the mutual respect that spouses who follow what the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and give him peace) taught.

Hope this helps

Allah knows best

[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and several texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.