gift due to a wife upon divorce

Question:

Please tell me what is the share/gift due to a wife who is divorced by her husband? Does he have to give her this and how can we determine the value thereof?

Answer:

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

After divorcing one’s wife, the husband must pay her the mahr if he has not already done so (unless the wife had decided to forgo the mahr).

He must also provide her with food, clothing and shelter during her iddat (waiting period). In determining the price or type of food and clothing that he should provide her, the financial status of both the husband and the wife should be taken into consideration. If both of them are rich, she will receive the food and clothing which rich people are accustomed to. If both of them are poor, she will receive that of poor people. If the husband is poor while the wife is from a rich family or vice versa, she will receive food and clothing that is of an average quality and price. In other words, it will be such that it is cheaper than the food and clothing of rich people, but more expensive than the food and clothing of poor people.

Also, if he had consummated the marriage, it will be mustahab (desirable) for him to give her a set of clothes*.

If he had not consummated the marriage and the mahr amount was not mentioned at the time of the marriage, it will be compulsory for him to give her a set of clothes** upon divorce provided that the set of clothes will not cost more than half of the mahrul mithl. If the set of clothes will cost more than half of the mahrul mithl, he will not have to give her a set of clothes; instead will have to pay her half of the mahrul mithl.

If, on the other hand, he had not consummated the marriage but the mahr amount was mentioned at the time of the marriage, it will not be mustahab (desirable) to give her a set of clothes.

Besides the abovementioned things, a man is not liable to give his wife anything else upon divorcing her.

* A set of clothes for this purpose is what a woman normally wears when she goes outside, such as a headgear, a kameez (top) and a shalwar (pants) or skirt. This will vary from country to country and from community to community.

** The value and quality of the set of clothes should be determined taking into consideration the financial status of both the husband and the wife. In other words, if both of them are rich, she should be given a set of clothes befitting a rich person. If both of them are poor, she will receive a set of clothes that poor people would wear. If one of them is rich while the other one is poor, she will receive a set of clothes that is of average quality and value.

(Raddul Muhtaar: 4/234; 5/286, Darul Ma’rifa)
(Aap Ke Masaa’il: 5/408, Maktaba Ludhyanawi)
(Bahishti Zewar: 1/481)

And Allah knows best.

Mufti Faizal Riza
Darul Ifta Australia
www.mufti-online.net

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