Azwaj bil-Kadhib
- Author died
- -
- Editions
- Dar al-Andalus al-Khadra'
Azwaj bil-Kadhib (Husbands by Deceit) is a socio-religious treatise by the Saudi scholar Abd Allah al-Ruhayli, written in Medina in 1420 AH (1999 CE) to address the marital exploitation of working women and the misappropriation of their earnings .
Background and Purpose
The treatise was completed on 1 Rabiʿ al-Awwal 1420 AH in Medina and published as a standalone monograph by Dar al-Andalus al-Khadra in Jeddah, as well as included in the author's essay collection Kalimat fi Munasabat . Al-Ruhayli wrote the work to tackle what he viewed as an increasingly pervasive social issue: men marrying employed women solely or primarily for financial gain, while abdicating their legal obligations of maintenance (nafaqah) and distorting the concept of male guardianship (qiwamah) . He emphasized in the introduction that his goal was not to advocate divorce, but rather to encourage mutual reform, urge wrongdoers to repent, and guide victims in reclaiming their rights in a measured, lawful manner .
Core Themes and Contents
The book is structured around several interconnected sections analyzing the problem, providing legal proofs, proposing actionable solutions, and illustrating real-world impacts:
- Diagnosis of the Problem: Al-Ruhayli describes men who make employment—particularly in teaching—a primary prerequisite for marriage, disguising their financial motives before marriage under noble pretexts such as "serving the nation" . After marriage, these husbands either seize part or all of their wives' salaries by coercion or misinterpretations of religious verdicts, or force them to cover basic household expenditures, rent, and personal expenses while withholding maintenance .
- Scriptural Evidence: The author cites Quranic verses and hadiths prohibiting the wrongful consumption of others' property without their free and genuine consent, including the Prophet's ﷺ Farewell Pilgrimage declaration: فَإِنَّ دِمَاءَكُمْ، وَأَمْوَالَكُمْ، وَأَعْرَاضَكُمْ، عَلَيْكُمْ حَرَامٌ كَحُرْمَةِ يَوْمِكُمْ هَذَا ("Your blood, your property, and your honor are as sacred as this day of yours") . He stresses that male guardianship was legislated for caretaking and protection, not exploitation or extortion .
- Proposed Remedies: Al-Ruhayli outlines a tiered approach to solving the issue:
- Preventative measures: Bridal guardians (awliya') must thoroughly vet prospective suitors for materialistic motives and character prior to contracting marriage .
- Husband-led reform: Husbands who committed such transgressions must repent, apologize, and return any usurped money .
- Responsive measures: If the husband persists, the wife should firmly refuse injustice, document financial transactions, seek arbitration through two fair arbiters (hakamayn), or file for judicial dissolution (faskh) or divorce .
- Institutional responsibilities: Judges, Friday preachers, employers, and state authorities are called upon to deter abusers and support mistreated women .
- Critique of Extortive Fathers: A dedicated section criticizes fathers who commit marriage prevention (ʿadl) by refusing suitors for their daughters or provoking marital discord to maintain access to their daughters' salaries, refuting their reliance on generalized readings of the narration: أنت ومالك لأبيك ("You and your wealth belong to your father") .
- Deconstructing Social Fears and Real-Life Cases: Al-Ruhayli counters irrational anxieties surrounding social stigma, the prospect of divorce, and fears over post-separation life, noting that divorce and judicial dissolution were ordained by God as legitimate remedies for unbearable harm . The work concludes with real-life case studies of working women exploited by spouses, drawing on reports originally documented in the press .
Answer updated