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What is the ruling regarding a wife who took from her husband's money without his knowledge for her maintenance, and then the husband refused to forgive her for not informing him of that?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The mandatory spousal support (nafaqah) for the wife from her husband includes food, drink, clothing, and housing, according to the husband's financial status. Anything beyond that is considered a voluntary act. If the husband falls short in providing the mandatory support, the wife may take from his money, without his permission, what is sufficient for her in a reasonable manner, without exceeding it. Her doing so is not considered a sin according to Islamic law and does not depend on the husband's forgiveness. Rather, the husband must repent and rectify the situation. This right of the wife is derived from the command of the Prophet, peace be upon him, as in the hadith of Hind bint Utbah, whom the Prophet, peace be upon him, permitted to take from her husband Abu Sufyan's money, in a reasonable manner, what sufficed her and her children.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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