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Must a wife obey her husband if he orders her to slaughter an animal with her own hand, even if she dislikes it or is unable to do so?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The majority of scholars hold that a wife's service to her husband is not obligatory but rather recommended, while others among the Hadith and Fiqh scholars believe it is obligatory, citing the Hadith of Fatima (may Allah be pleased with her). Ibn al-Qayyim strongly emphasized the obligation of service. Ibn Taymiyyah chose the view that companionship is obligatory based on what is customary (urf), and that a wife's obedience to her husband in matters commonly recognized by custom is obligatory. Therefore, if a husband orders his wife to slaughter an animal and she is capable of it, and this is customarily a service that women provide to men, then she must obey him; otherwise, she is not obligated. It is preferable for her to perform it if she is able, to avoid disagreement.

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

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