Is it permissible to file a lawsuit for alimony against a father who is absent and has ceased providing for his child, while the child is enrolled in university?
The maintenance of a relative by another relative is an act of kindness, not a right that is owed. It differs from a wife's maintenance in that it is not fixed, it lapses with the passage of time, and it requires the maintainer to be in financial difficulty and the maintained to be in a state of ease.
Therefore, it is not permissible to file a lawsuit for past maintenance against a father unless there was a prior ruling. However, it is permissible to claim future maintenance for someone unable to earn a living.
As for the mother, if she is divorced, she is only entitled to claim maintenance as a wife or as an '-observing woman who is not defiant. If the separation occurred without divorce and she was not defiant, then she has the right to claim maintenance for past years.
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- Original fatwa ID
- 70401
- Imported
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