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Is a wife sinful for not performing special services for her husband, such as cleaning his shoes, ironing his clothes, and serving food, while she does the cooking, laundry, and cleaning?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Scholars have differed concerning the obligation of a wife to serve her husband. The preponderant opinion (mufta bihi) is that it is obligatory according to what is customary (bil-ma'ruf). Therefore, it is not permissible for the wife to refuse it as long as she is under his marital bond and he fulfills her rights. The reference for this is custom ('urf), and whatever people have commonly agreed upon regarding a wife's service to her husband is obligatory upon her. Ibn Taymiyyah said: "Service is obligatory according to what is customary, so she must serve him with the known service from one like her to one like him, and this varies according to circumstances." The relationship between spouses should be based on mutual affection, mercy, understanding, patience, and overlooking minor faults.

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

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