Q: I allowed my wife to work. Her friends convinced her not to contribute to household expenses. She even threatened to file a complaint against me with the police. Is cancelling her residency and sending her home considered a sin?
A: It is important to clarify at the beginning that Islamic law recognises a wife’s independent ownership of wealth and property. She therefore has full financial autonomy. The husband is not entitled to her salary, or even a portion of it, without her full consent. Several Prophetic sayings (hadiths) refer to a wife’s full discretion over her own property. According to Islamic law, you are responsible to provide for your wife. You should not, therefore, behave or react with anger if she does not contribute to household expenses. As your wife is now working, an arrangement you consented to, you should be patient with her and respect her financial autonomy. We advise you to resort to wisdom and patience in your attempt to settle your disagreement with your wife over her contribution. Many women once complained to the Prophet Mohammed’s wives about their husbands, upon which Allah’s Messenger said: “They are not the best amongst you,” and Allah knows best.
Q: I understand that smoking tobacco is haram in Islam. However, it came to my attention that there is no consensus among Muslim scholars about this view. What do the holy Quran and the hadiths of the Prophet Mohammed say about the subject?
A: It is well known that tobacco smoking is a major factor in the development of many cases of cancer, heart disease, chronic respiratory diseases and other ailments. For this reason it has been said to be a poison that leads to slow suicide. Due to such medical evidence the majority of Islamic scholars have issued rulings forbidding smoking. Since cigarettes are a relatively new phenomenon, there is no clear ban mentioned in the Quran or the Sunnah. Several Islamic research institutes and scholars, however, have drawn analogies with verses that state that killing or harming oneself or others are prohibited. Allah, the exalted, says in the holy Quran: “Do not contribute to your destruction with your own hands.” The Quran also says: “ Do not take life, which God has made sacred,” and “Do not kill each other, for God is merciful to you”. The Prophet Mohammed said: “There should be neither harming nor reciprocating harm.” Smoking not only harms the smoker but whoever is in their company, too. So in view of the harm caused by tobacco, smoking is considered to be haram by most Islamic scholars and research institutes based on analogy from the holy Quran and the hadith of Prophet Mohammed.
If you have a question for Awqaf, email newsdesk@thenational.ae with the subject line ‘Fatwa Q&As’.
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