Rights of a Wife after Divorce

16-12-2003 | IslamWeb

Question:

I want to know about financial distribution and rights in case of divorce between man and his wife in Islam. Please explain in details, as this is the case between my parents and they fight about it. Please also include any financial or other things that the children of the divorced parents entitled to from their father.

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Answer:

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

When the man divorces his wife, he should give her all her rights like the Mahr (bridal money) if he has not given it to her before. He should also let her take all the properties that belong to her in the home like her jewelry, her clothes, …etc. But he does not have to let her take that which does not belong to her unless he accepts to give it to her. Now, in order to settle this matter, the man and the woman should make an inventory of all that which is in the house and each one takes his/her belongings. Now, if they argue about the ownership of an item, the wife takes that which is usually owned by women and the husband the remaining. But in this case he/she has to swear to prove his/her ownership of that item. As for the children, they do not deserve anything following the divorce except for those of them who have not yet reached the age of puberty. The father has to spend on these young children until they reach the age of puberty or become financially independent from him.

Allah knows best.