The wife’s demand for a separate house

Question

Question: Zayd’s wife went to her parents’ home. Zayd went two or three times to bring her back, but neither did her parents send her, nor is she herself willing to come to Zayd’s house. She says: “I will not live with Zayd while the other wife is there; give her talaq, or keep me in a separate house — then I will live.” Is her maintenance obligatory upon Zayd or not?

Answer

As long as she does not return to her husband’s house, she will not be entitled to maintenance (nafaqa). Caution (tanbih): it is necessary that one’s wife have one such separate room over which no one else has control; as for the rest — the courtyard, bathroom, toilet and kitchen — if all of it is shared and in the use of the other wife or of the husband’s mother, sister and…

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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