Claiming that mother or wife are entitled to man's income is false
20-12-2016 | IslamWeb
Question:
Assalaamu alaykum, Sir. There is a belief in some Muslim families in India that the son's income should completely go to his mother or wife. Then whenever he needs anything, he should ask it from them, and thus they manage the family. They got this belief from the Hindus, and I really hate it. My mother believes it too, and my grandma said that she heard it on an Islamic TV channel though I believe that she is a weak narrator. I told them I read on the Internet that neither the mom nor the wife are to be given the son's income. When the mother needs anything and the father cannot give it ot her, then the son should give it to her, and the father can take anything he wants from the son's wealth, even without the son's permission. The son is obliged to take care of his parents when they are weak, old, and poor. So what does the Sharia say about all this? Please clarify it or refer me to other fatwas where this is all discussed in detail. May Allaah bless you, always.
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
The income earned by the son is his personal property. His parents, or anyone else, have no right to dispose of it, except with his permission. Asmaa', may Allah be pleased with her, narrated that the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said, "The wealth of a Muslim is not lawful (for anyone else) unless he gave it willingly." [Ahmad]
It is not correct to say in an absolute manner that the father has the right to take whatever he wants from his son's wealth even without his permission. Regarding the hadeeth that reads, "You and your wealth belong to your father," scholars who interpreted it underlined that there are certain conditions for this and that the hadeeth does not mean that the parents are entitled to dispose of their child's wealth freely with no restrictions or conditions. Please, refer to fatwas 1569 and 89942 for the correct interpretation of the hadeeth in reference.
As for providing for the parents, it is the duty of the child to provide for his parents if they are poor and have no wealth to provide for themselves, and it is not necessary that they are old or weak, so he provides for them according to his ability, as underlined in fatwa 90246.
Also, the man is obliged to provide for his wife in reasonable terms. We have previously underlined this in fatwas 83530 and 85541.
Allah knows best.