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Is it Islamically permissible for the husband to sign a list by virtue of which the wife owns all the contents of the apartment that the husband brought, and what is the alternative if it is not permissible?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Equipping the marital home is the sole responsibility of the husband, as it falls under the obligatory maintenance. If the husband pays the dowry and furnishes the home without the wife's participation, then the furnishings are his property.

If custom dictates that the woman participates in furnishing the home, then what she contributes is her property, and what the husband contributes is his property.

If the husband pays the dowry and adds to it for the purpose of furnishing, then the furnishings are his property.

However, if custom dictates that the husband pays for furnishing the home in lieu of a dowry, then in this case, the furnishings are the wife's property.

Gold is the property of the wife, as it is either a gift or part of the dowry.

Whatever each party brings from their own wealth is their property, and it is preferable to write a list of possessions.

It is not permissible to compel the husband to write the furnishings as the wife's property unless they both agree to consider it part of the dowry.

Spouses often sign a list of furnishings, usually to prevent disputes, and both parties must adhere to the boundaries set by Allah.

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

Read the full answer on Ftawy