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Mandatory conditions in the house of obedience

Question

What are the conditions that must be fulfilled in the house of obedience? May Allaah Reward you.

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

If the questioner means the marital home, then there are conditions stipulated by scholars. Scholars agreed on some of these conditions and differed on others. According to the Al-Mawsoo‘ah Al-Fiqhiyyah Al-Kuwaytiyyah (The Kuwaiti Encyclopedia of Fiqh), scholars of Fiqh see that the following conditions must be fulfilled in the marital home:

- There should be none of the husband's family other than his non-discerning child at this home, for the woman is harmed by others being in her marital home. She also feels concerned about her own belongings. This also results in abstaining from having sexual intercourse with her husband. This is unanimously agreed upon among the scholars of Fiqh.

Regarding the husband's relatives or his other wives living in the house which is the marital home; she has no right to disagree as long as she has a special segment of the house and has her own facilities and that none of her husband's relatives harms her, according to the Hanafi scholars. The servant of the husband or the wife is permitted to live in the marital home because the husband has to support him financially, provided that he is one of those who are permitted to look at the wife.

- Co-wives must not live together, in order to avoid jealousy and quarrels, unless they agree to live together, for they have the right to do so and they can separate afterwards.

- The home should be in a location surrounded by good neighbors, whose testimony is to be accepted. That is so in order for the wife to feel secure about herself and her property. The home where there are no neighbors is not a Sharee‘ah compliant home as long as she does not feel secure for herself and her property.

- The home should include all things and facilities necessary for living, as was previously mentioned.

Allaah Knows best.

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