What is the ruling of the Sharia regarding a wife remaining under a man's marital bond without divorce despite her distance from him and her refusal to live with him, while the husband is unable to pay the deferred dower, and is maintenance obligatory for her and the children in this case despite the husband being deprived of seeing them, and does a Sharia-compliant divorce occur by the wife's prolonged absence?

A wife is not permitted to work outside the home without her husband's permission, especially if he has stipulated that she should not go out to work. Nor is she permitted to refuse to travel with him and reside where he resides, unless she stipulated this to him before marriage.

Therefore, a wife’s going out to work without her husband’s consent and her refusal to travel with him without a valid reason is considered an act of disobedience (nushooz), which forfeits her right to maintenance. In this case, the husband may pressure her to seek khula‘ in exchange for waiving some of her rights, such as the deferred dowry. However, the children’s maintenance is obligatory upon the father as long as they are entitled to it.

The husband’s absence from his wife does not result in divorce, no matter how long the period. Marriage is obligatory for whoever fears falling into sin, whenever they are capable of it. Divorcing the wife is not obligatory; it is better to attempt to reform her by following the steps for reforming a disobedient wife, with divorce being the last resort.