When a Wife Travels, Must Her Husband Still Provide for Her?
إذا سافرت المرأة فهل يجب على الزوج نفقتها؟
When a woman travels, should her husband provide for her?
The answer states that a wife who travels with her husband's permission keeps her maintenance, and that one who travels without his permission has none. Jurists add a distinction by the purpose of the journey, set out in the note and sections below.
The obligation of financial maintenance in marriage is linked to mutual rights, responsibilities, and the concept of availability within the marital home.
Travel and the Right to Maintenance
1. Traveling with the Husband's Permission
The scholars agreed that if a woman travels with her husband's permission, she keeps her maintenance.
2. Traveling without the Husband's Permission
But if the wife travels without her husband's permission, she has no maintenance.
Note: Jurists distinguish the purpose of the journey. If she travels with his permission for his need, or he travels with her, she keeps her maintenance (al-Imrani, al-Bayan). If she travels alone with his permission for her own need, they differ: the Hanbalis hold that her maintenance lapses, and al-Imrani records two statements of al-Shafi'i on the question.
إذا سافرت المرأة فهل يجب على الزوج نفقتها؟
يقرر الجواب أن الزوجة إذا سافرت بإذن زوجها فلها نفقتها، وإذا سافرت بغير إذنه فلا نفقة لها. ويفرق الفقهاء بحسب غرض السفر كما في الملاحظة والأقسام التالية.
يرتبط وجوب النفقة المالية في الزواج بالحقوق والمسؤوليات المتبادلة، ومفهوم الاستقرار في بيت الزوجية.
السفر وحق النفقة
1. السفر بإذن الزوج
اتفق العلماء على أن المرأة إذا سافرت بإذن زوجها فلها نفقتها.
2. السفر بغير إذن الزوج
أما إذا سافرت الزوجة بغير إذن زوجها فلا نفقة لها.
ملاحظة: يفرق الفقهاء بحسب غرض السفر: فإن سافرت بإذنه في حاجته أو سافر معها فلها نفقتها (العمراني، البيان). وإن سافرت وحدها بإذنه لحاجة نفسها فقد اختلفوا: فعند الحنابلة تسقط نفقتها، ونقل العمراني عن الشافعي قولين في المسألة.
1. Travel With His Permission | السفر بإذن الزوج
Jurists look at the purpose of the journey. If she travels with his permission for his need, she keeps her maintenance because she travels on his business, and if her husband travels with her she remains in his care and keeps it as well; al-Imrani gives both reasons in al-Bayan. If she travels alone with his permission for her own need, the schools differ: the Hanbalis hold that her maintenance lapses, and al-Imrani records two statements of al-Shafi'i on the question. A Hanafi text, Durar al-Hukkam, gives a wife who travels with her husband for her own purpose her home maintenance only, not the costs of the journey.
وَعَلَى الْمَوْلُودِ لَهُ رِزْقُهُنَّ وَكِسْوَتُهُنَّ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ (سورة البقرة: 233)
ينظر الفقهاء إلى غرض السفر: فإن سافرت بإذنه في حاجته فلها نفقتها لأنها سافرت في شغله ومراده، وإن سافر الزوج معها لم تسقط نفقتها لأنها في قبضته وطاعته، كما علل العمراني في البيان. وإن سافرت وحدها بإذنه لحاجة نفسها فقد اختلفوا: فعند الحنابلة تسقط نفقتها، ونقل العمراني عن الشافعي قولين في المسألة. وفي درر الحكام من كتب الحنفية أنها إن سافرت بالزوج لحاجتها فلها نفقة الحضر لا نفقة السفر ولا الكراء.
2. Travel Without His Permission | السفر بغير إذن الزوج
A wife who travels without her husband's permission and without a valid reason loses her maintenance for that period. Al-Kasani, a Hanafi jurist, counts leaving the husband's home without his permission and travelling among the forms of nushuz, and al-Imrani, a Shafi'i, explains that by travelling she has denied him his right; the Hanbalis hold the same. When she returns to the marital home, her maintenance returns.
فَالصَّالِحَاتُ قَانِتَاتٌ حَافِظَاتٌ لِّلْغَيْبِ بِمَا حَفِظَ اللَّهُ (سورة النساء: 34)
إذا سافرت الزوجة بغير إذن زوجها ومن غير عذر سقطت نفقتها مدة سفرها. وعد الكاساني من الحنفية خروجها من منزله بغير إذنه وسفرها من النشوز، وعلل العمراني من الشافعية سقوطها بأنها منعته حقه بالسفر، وبه قال الحنابلة. فإذا عادت إلى بيت الزوجية عادت نفقتها.
Scholarly Insight: In Islamic Jurisprudence ( Fiqh ), the husband's obligation to provide financial maintenance ( Nafaqah ) is closely tied to the wife's presence and commitment to the marital home, a concept known as Tamkin . When a wife travels without her husband's permission, she is legally classified as Nashiz (recalcitrant or disobedient) for the duration of her absence. Because she has removed herself from the marital home without a valid Sharia exception, the husband's financial obligation is temporarily suspended until she returns. Travelling with his permission for his need, or travelling with him, keeps her maintenance; for a journey alone for her own need, the schools differ.
Frequently Asked Questions | الأسئلة الشائعة
Does a husband have to pay for his wife's travel costs?
It depends on the purpose. If she travels with his permission for his need, or with him, she keeps her maintenance. If she travels for her own purpose, a Hanafi text gives her only her home maintenance and not the costs of the journey (Durar al-Hukkam), and other schools let her maintenance lapse if she travels alone.
What happens to a wife's maintenance if she travels without permission?
She loses her maintenance for the period of that journey, because travelling without his permission and without a valid reason is counted as nushuz. It returns when she comes back to the marital home.
Does a wife keep her maintenance if she travels with his permission for her own need?
The schools differ. The Hanbalis hold that her maintenance lapses, and al-Imrani records two statements of al-Shafi'i on the question (al-Bayan). If she travels with his permission for his need, or with him, she keeps it.
Does a husband have to provide for his wife when she travels with him?
Yes. If he travels with her, she remains in his care and keeps her maintenance (al-Imrani, al-Bayan).
Prepared by Eng. Ghada Homad, founder of IslamFAQ, researched and written in consultation with qualified scholars, reviewed by Professor Khaled Jassem Al-Houli, Associate Professor of Comparative Jurisprudence and Islamic Politics, Faculty of Sharia and Islamic Studies, University of Kuwait. Read more about the authors and this project →