❖ Extracted from Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulām Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri ❖
✿ Is Maintenance Obligatory for a Woman in ʿIddah After Final (Third) Divorce? ✿
The Ruling:
A husband is only obligated to provide maintenance (nafaqah) during the ʿiddah of a revocable (رجعی) divorce.
If the wife has been given the third and final (بائن) divorce, then the right of maintenance and housing ends, as there is no right of return (رجوع) left for the husband.
Authentic Hadith:
❀ The Prophet ﷺ said:
«إِنَّمَا النَّفَقَةُ وَالسُّكْنَى لِلْمَرْأَةِ إِذَا كَانَ لِزَوْجِهَا عَلَيْهَا الرَّجْعَةُ»
“Maintenance and residence are only for the woman over whom the husband has the right to return (i.e., during a revocable divorce).”
Sunan al-Nasāʾī: 3403 – Authentic chain
Scholarly Consensus:
❀ Imām al-Baghawī رحمه الله (d. 516H) wrote:
«لا خلاف بين أهل العلم في المعتدة الرجعية أنها تستحق النفقة والسكنى على زوجها.»
“There is no difference of opinion among the scholars that a woman in ʿiddah after a revocable divorce is entitled to maintenance and housing from her husband.”
Sharḥ al-Sunnah: 9/302◈ Summary of Key Points:
① Maintenance is only obligatory during revocable (رجعی) divorce ʿiddah.
② After third (final) divorce, the woman is in irrevocable (بائن) divorce ʿiddah, and nafaqah is no longer obligatory.
③ This is supported by authentic Hadith and the consensus of scholars.
