2

According to 4:34, men are in charge of women. Some of the rights of the husband are put together in the second graph of my answer here. Until recently I thought these falls under walayah (guardianship), however that doesn't seem to be quite the case. Instead, the correct phrasing seems to be that the husband is the qawwaam if his wife. This brings up some questions:

  • Is qawwaam an expression exclusive to the husband? As far as I know, the guardian (usually the father) has the rights enumerated in my linked answer (apart from demanding sex).
  • Does a divorced woman have a qawwaam, and if so, who? Perhaps she reverts to being under the guardianship of her previous qawwaam?
Improve this question

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

Qawam isn't a legal title as far as I know, and 4:34 is strictly about a husband and wife. Mahr (dower) and Nafqah (maintenance) are obligatory on the husband and in return sexual availability is obligatory on the wife ... that is pretty much the whole basis of a marriage contract. A husband may require the wife to ensure sexual availability by asking her to not observe voluntary fasts, to stay where he wants, and to remain there ... though these rights are of-course usually understood to be more limited and negotiable than what you've expressed in your linked answer.

Do men other than a husband have these same rights on a woman? Not that I am aware of, though parents (both father and mother) can ofcourse require obedience to their commands within reasonable limits and its possible that a father (or a mother) can command his daughter (or son) to not leave the house because of xyz.

As far as Nafqah (maintenance) is concerned: outside of marriage it is a duty for the children, parents, siblings, and then the state treasury. Though unlike the nafqah in a marriage, this duty is not obligatory if the person required to pay is poor, or if the person receiving owns wealth and means of their own. More details on Nafqah here (read on for details of maintenance outside marriage) and here.

Improve this answer
2
  • "though these rights are of-course usually understood to be more limited and negotiable than what you've expressed in your linked answer. " By whom, and how so?
    – G. Bach
    Mar 28, 2017 at 16:24
  • "its possible that a father (or a mother) can command his daughter (or son) to not leave the house because of xyz" An adult male can be restricted to his house by his parents' order? That's news to me, can you give a reference for that?
    – G. Bach
    Mar 28, 2017 at 18:24

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .