Athar Amal al-Mar'a fi al-Nafaqa al-Zawjiyya
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- Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University
Athar Amal al-Mar'a fi al-Nafaqa al-Zawjiyya (The Impact of Women's Work on Spousal Maintenance) is a contemporary treatise on comparative Islamic jurisprudence by Abd al-Salam al-Shuwayir, examining how a wife's employment outside the home affects her entitlement to financial support from her husband.
Background and Context
The work originated as a peer-reviewed research paper presented at an academic seminar titled Nafaqat al-Zawja fi Daw' Mutaghayyirat al-Asr ("Wife's Maintenance in Light of Contemporary Variables"), organized by the Center of Research Excellence in the Jurisprudence of Contemporary Issues at Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh on 8 Jumada al-Akhira 1432 AH. Following review and discussions by participating specialists, the center published it as an independent 64-page study in 1432 AH (2011 CE).
In his introduction, the author observes that early classical jurists rarely discussed the employment of wives as an overarching legal problem, with some seventh-century AH authorities designating such questions as an isolated contemporary event (waqi'a fi al-zaman). Al-Shuwayir contrasts this historical scarcity with modern writings over the preceding century, critiquing contemporary literature for frequently repeating Hanafi legal determinations without sufficient scrutiny or for being overly influenced by modern statutory legal formulations.
Structure and Legal Analysis
The study is organized into an introduction, three main analytical chapters (mabahith), and a concluding summary:
- The Juristic Cause for Forfeiture of Maintenance (‘Ilat Isqat al-Nafaqa): This section discusses the legal rationale behind spousal support, defining it as a reciprocal exchange (muqabala) arising from marital commitments rather than a mere commercial contract (mu‘awada). It analyzes how maintenance relates to recalcitrance (nushuz) and examines the juristic viability of dividing or apportioning maintenance (tashitir al-nafaqa) when recalcitrance is partial.
- Juristic Opinions on Forfeiting Maintenance Due to Employment: This section focuses on cases where a wife works outside the home without her husband's consent, evaluating classical juristic statements, implied principles, and modern extrapolations across three distinct viewpoints.
- The Scope and Practical Conditions of the Rulings: This section delineates the practical application of the juristic rulings, dividing them into three operational spheres: the six conditions required to rule for halving or reducing maintenance, the factors that lead to total forfeiture of support, and the instances where full maintenance remains obligatory.
Key Conclusions
Al-Shuwayir adopts the preferred view (al-tarjih) that a woman working outside the home without her husband's permission does not automatically lose her entire spousal maintenance; instead, her maintenance is reduced or apportioned proportionally. He identifies six conditions for reducing maintenance: the work must not be religiously forbidden, it must not occupy the entirety of the day and night, it must take place outside the home, it must not be an individual religious obligation (fard 'ayn), the husband must be actively providing sufficient maintenance, and the husband must not have given his permission.
The author concludes that maintenance is forfeited entirely only if the work is inherently unlawful in Islamic law or if it consumes the entire day and night. Conversely, full maintenance remains mandatory on the husband if the woman works within the marital home, if her employment constitutes an individual religious obligation, or if the husband fails to provide her with adequate maintenance.
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