His wife refuses his call to bed until he adds her name to the deed of his house

8-12-2009 | IslamWeb

Question:

After 15 years of being marrried, a wife has told her husband that she will not sleep with him anymore, untill he adds her name to the title (ownership) of the house. She has not shared his bed for 2 months now. Is there a time limit after which they will be considered divorced, if she does not go back to be with him. Will he be justified in divorcing her

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

 

The wife is obliged to obey her husband when he calls her to bed and she is not permitted to refuse (his call to bed) unless she has a sound reason otherwise the angels will curse her throughout the night as confirmed by the Prophet ; this is clarified in Fataawa 100429 and 88547.

We do not know on what basis that woman obliges her husband to add her name to the ownership of the house. If there is a religious reason for this, then it is acceptable, otherwise her husband’s money [and property] is not lawful for her except if he gives her something on his own free will.

Furthermore, this woman is not considered as being divorced from her husband even if she refuses to answer his call to bed unless her husband divorces her; for more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 82327.

In such a case, it is permissible for the husband to divorce his wife. However, we advise him not to resort to divorce unless he follows the steps of treating a disobedient wife; this is discussed in Fatwa 85402.

Allaah Knows best.