Muhammadan Law.
The definition of maintenance in Islam is Nifka.
In the language of law it signifies all those things which are necessary to the support of life. such as food, clothes and lodging.
The subsistence of the wife is incumbent upon her husband. When a woman surrenders herself into the custody of her husband, it is incumbent upon him thenceforth to supply her with food, clothing and lodging, whether she be a Mussalman or an infidel, because such is the precept in Holy Qur'an. Such an obligation arises from the moment the wife is subject to the moral control of her husband and in certain cases for a time even after it is dissolved.
A wife must be accommodated with a separate apartment.
It is incumbent upon a husband to provide a separate apartment for his wife's habitation, to be solely and exclusively appropriated to her use, so that none of her husband's family, or others, may enter without her permission and desire, because this is essentially necessary to her, and is, therefore, her due the same as maintenance for the word of God appoints her a dwelling house as well as a subsistence, and as it is incumbent upon a husband to provide a habitation for his wife under his control.
The maintenance is in all circumstances to be considered a debt upon the husband in conformity with his tenet.
It is really remarkable in Islam that as soon as two sui juris persons enter into contract of marriage so many rights arc created but as soon as the marriage is dissolved, those rights will continue according to the Injunctions of Holy Qur'an. Wife can justly claim maintenance from the date of accrual of cause of action and not necessarily from the date of first seeking redress.
Husband's obligation to maintain his wife commences with the performance of marriage subject to certain conditions.
The marriage in Islam being in the nature of a contract, dower is the consideration agreed between the parties which the husband has to pay to the wife either promptly or subsequently, in accordance with the terms of the agreement. On the contrary, maintenance is in obligation which is one of the essential ingredients of marriage, liable to suspension or forfeiture under certain circumstances.
The obligation of the husband to maintain his wife has been derived from Verse No.232 of the Sura Albaqra which enjoins upon the father of a suckling child to feed and clothe his wife.
2000 C L C 1725
[Lahore]
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