Among the wife’s rights in Islam is nafaqah: the maintenance her husband must provide for her. It covers her food, her clothing, and her housing, and it is his obligation, not a favour he may give or withhold as he pleases.
This article gathers what the Qur’an and the Sunnah say about this right, and how the scholars in this site’s library explained it: what the husband must provide, how it is measured, what continues if the marriage ends, and what a wife may do when her husband does not give her what she is owed.
The Obligation in the Qur’an
Allah says:
“Men are in charge of women, because Allah has made one of them excel the other, and because they spend of their wealth [on them].”
(Qur’an 4:34)
Shaykh as-Sa’di explained what this charge includes:
“They are also in charge of them in terms of spending on them, clothing them, and providing accommodation to them.”
He pointed out that men have the exclusive obligation of spending on their wives. Ibn Kathir explained the words “and because they spend of their means” in the same verse:
“meaning the dowry, expenditures and various expenses that Allah ordained in His Book and the Sunnah of His Messenger for men to spend on women.”
The Wife’s Right in the Sunnah
The Sunnah states this right in plain words. The Sunan and Musnad compilers recorded that Mu’awiyah bin Haydah Al-Qushayri asked the Prophet ﷺ what right the wife of one of them has on her husband. The Prophet ﷺ said:
“To feed her when you eat, cloth her when you buy clothes for yourself, refrain from striking her face or cursing her, and to not abandon her, except in the house.”
Muslim recorded that Jabir said that during the Farewell Hajj, the Prophet ﷺ said:
“Fear Allah regarding women, for they are your assistants… They have a right on you that you provide them with their provision and clothes, in a reasonable manner.”
Measured by His Means
Maintenance is owed on an equitable basis, and it is measured by what the husband is able to give. Allah says, in the verse about mothers breastfeeding their children:
“Mothers may breastfeed their children for two whole years, for those who wish to complete the full term of breastfeeding. It is the obligation of the one to whom the child belongs to provide food and clothing for them [the mothers] on an equitable basis. No soul should have a burden laid on it greater than it can bear. No mother should be made to suffer harm on account of her child, nor any father on account of his child, and the same duty is incumbent on the heir.”
(Qur’an 2:233)
Shaykh as-Sa’di explained that “the one to whom the child belongs” is the father. On the mother’s food and clothing, he wrote: “This is applicable whether she is still married to him or is divorced; the father has to give her maintenance by spending on her and clothing her; that is her payment for breastfeeding.” On the measure of it, he said:
“So a poor man should not be forced to spend like a rich man, and the one who cannot afford to pay maintenance should not be forced to do so until he can afford it.”
Housing and Support in Divorce and Pregnancy
The wife’s right to housing and spending does not simply vanish when a divorce takes place. Allah says:
“Lodge them where you dwell, according to what you have, and do not harm them so as to suppress them. And if they are pregnant, then spend on them till they lay down their burden. Then if they suckle the children for you, give them their due payment, and let each of you deal with each other in a mannerly way. But if you make difficulties for one another, then some other woman may suckle for him. Let the rich man spend according to his means; and the man whose resources are restricted, let him spend according to what Allah has given him. Allah puts no burden on any person beyond what He has given him. Allah will grant after hardship, ease.”
(Qur’an 65:6-7)
Ibn Kathir explained:
“Allah the Exalted orders His faithful servants that when one of them divorces his wife, he should provide housing for her until the end of her `Iddah period,” Ibn Kathir wrote.
On “according to what you have”, he recorded: “Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid and several others said, it refers to “Your ability.” Qatadah said, “If you can only afford to accommodate her in a corner of your house, then do so.”” And on the divorced woman who is pregnant, under his heading “The Irrevocable Divorced Pregnant Woman has the Right of Support (Maintenance) from Her Husband until She gives Birth”, he wrote:
“This is about the woman who is irrevocably divorced. If she is pregnant, then she is to be spent on her until she lays down her burden.”
Maintenance Is Her Right
Ibn al-Qayyim stated in al-Hady, as quoted by Shaykh al-Fawzan in Rulings Pertaining to Muslim Women:
“…Instead, Allah made it an obligation on the man to provide her maintenance, clothing, and accomodation in return for the enjoyment he has from her and the service that she provides him – which is dictated by the custom of the people in their culture concerning a married couple.”
Because it is her right, a wife whose husband withholds it is not left without a remedy. Shaykh ibn Baz was asked, in Islamic Fatawa Regarding Women (Question 197): “My husband does not give me my expenses, neither for me nor for my children. Sometimes, we take money from him without his knowledge. Is there any sin upon us?” He answered:
“It is allowed for a woman to take wealth from her husband without his knowledge to meet her and her children’s needs if he is not giving them what they are customarily entitled to. She must take the money without extravagance or waste if he does not give her what suffices her. This is based on what is recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim from Aisha who stated that Hind bint Utbah came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Abu Sufyan does not give me what is sufficient for me or for my children.’ The Prophet ﷺ said, ‘Take from his wealth according to what is right and good which will suffice you and your child.’”
Key Lessons
- Maintenance (nafaqah) is the husband’s obligation and the wife’s right. It covers her food, her clothing, and her housing.
- Allah tied the husband’s charge over his wife to his spending on her: the dowry, and the expenditures and expenses He ordained for men to spend on women.
- The Prophet ﷺ defined the wife’s right plainly: that she is fed when he eats and clothed when he buys clothes for himself, and in his Farewell Sermon he named her right to provision and clothes in a reasonable manner.
- Maintenance is measured by the husband’s means. A poor man is not forced to spend like a rich man, and no soul is burdened beyond what it can bear.
- Housing and spending continue through the waiting period after divorce, according to his ability, and the divorced woman who is pregnant is spent on until she gives birth.
- If a husband does not give his wife what she is customarily entitled to, she may take from his wealth what suffices her and her children, without extravagance or waste.
Further Reading
References
Tafsir as-Sa’di, by Shaykh ‘Abdur-Rahman ibn Nasir as-Sa’di. International Islamic Publishing House (IIPH), English Edition 1, 2018. Translated by Nasiruddin al-Khattab, edited by Huda Khattab. Volumes used: Vol. 1 (Juz’ 1-3), on Surah al-Baqarah 2:233, printed pp. 298-299; Vol. 2 (Juz’ 4-6), on Surah an-Nisa 4:34, printed p. 173.
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Abridged), English translation, the 10-volume set. (On Qur’an 4:34, and on Surah at-Talaq, Qur’an 65:6-7.)
Rulings Pertaining to Muslim Women, by Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan. Darussalam, Second Edition, June 2003. ISBN 9960-347-29-5. Translated by Burhan Loqueman. (Marriage and Divorce chapter, printed pp. 118-119, quoting Ibn al-Qayyim, al-Hady [5-188-189].)
Islamic Fatawa Regarding Women, Darussalam, First Edition 1996/1417H, compiled by Muhammad bin Abdul-Aziz al-Musnad, translated by Jamaal al-Din M. Zarabozo. (Question 197, Shaykh ibn Baz, printed pp. 216-217.)
Verified on 2026-10-23 against: Tafsir as-Sa’di (IIPH), Vols. 1 and 2; Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Abridged); Rulings Pertaining to Muslim Women (Shaykh al-Fawzan); and Islamic Fatawa Regarding Women (Darussalam).