A wife’s obstinacy and wrongdoing

Question

Hinda, the wife of Zayd, had for some days been constantly quarrelling with her husband, raising idle and pointless matters. Finally, one day, in the course of a quarrel with her husband, she said: “From today there are no husband-and-wife relations between me and you, and I am ending these relations.” After that, on some pretext, she went to her parents’ home, and living there she has been spending her time very freely, contrary to the Shari‘a.

Answer

In this incident Hinda is certainly at fault and sinful. She is not entitled to maintenance until she goes back to her husband’s house. The husband should ask Hinda: “What is troubling you?” If she says something reasonable, he should make arrangements for it; otherwise he should try to bring her back to his house through members of the family.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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