🏡 Rights & responsibilities · #67
Is a husband obliged to provide a domestic helper for his wife?
According to the Shafi'i school, if the wife comes from a background where help is customary, or she is ill and unable, a husband with the means must provide help according to custom; if he cannot afford it, it is not obligatory, but he should help himself.
Maintenance is assessed by the husband's means and social custom (at-Talaq 65:7, al-Baqarah 2:233). When Fatima r.a. complained that her hands hurt from grinding grain and asked for a servant, the Prophet ﷺ instead taught her and ʿAli words of remembrance before sleep (Sahih al-Bukhari 3113) — a sign that when means are lacking, spouses help each other and are patient. Today help can take the form of a part-time cleaner, laundry services, household appliances or the husband sharing the work himself. A wife who works and also runs the whole house easily becomes exhausted; discuss realistic forms of help. See the question on a husband helping at home.
Maintenance is assessed by the husband's means and social custom (at-Talaq 65:7, al-Baqarah 2:233). When Fatima r.a. complained that her hands hurt from grinding grain and asked for a servant, the Prophet ﷺ instead taught her and ʿAli words of remembrance before sleep (Sahih al-Bukhari 3113) — a sign that when means are lacking, spouses help each other and are patient. Today help can take the form of a part-time cleaner, laundry services, household appliances or the husband sharing the work himself. A wife who works and also runs the whole house easily becomes exhausted; discuss realistic forms of help. See the question on a husband helping at home.
Sources
Surah at-Talaq 65:7Sahih al-Bukhari 3113Surah al-Baqarah 2:233