a husband must protect and prevent his wife and children from any possible harm or immorality to the best of his abilities. allah, the exalted, says:


(o you who believe! save yourselves and your families from a fire whose fuel is men and stones, over which are (appointed) angels stern (and) severe, who disobey not the commands they receive from allah, and do what they are commanded.)


[66:6]

all that protects from unlawful and shameful deeds is commendable, but extremism is not. he (peace be upon him) also said:


“there is a kind of jealousy that allah loves and a kind which he hates: the kind that he loves is in the doubtful acts, and the kind he hates is in the acts without any doubt.”


[abu dawood #2659 & nasa`e #2558]


certain types of jealousy are acceptable and commendable, and others are not, as the prophet of allah (peace be upon him) explained above, and in a verified tradition he said:


“verily allah gets jealous and the believer gets jealous and the jealousy of allah is to see a believer doing unlawful acts.”


[bukhari #4925, & muslim #2761]

men who are married to more than one wife are required to act with justice, fairness and equality in dealing with them. this includes provision, clothing, housing and sharing his time, concerns and intimate relations. allah, the beneficent, says:

(and if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with the orphan-girls, then marry (other) women of your choice, two or three or four, but if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one or (the captives and the slaves) that your right hands possess. that is better to prevent you from doing injustice.)


[4:3]

the prophet of allah (peace be upon him) said:


“he who has two wives and leans to one as opposed to the other will come on the day of resurrection with one of his sides fallen.”


[abu dawood #2133 & tirmidhi #1141, & others and verified]

this indicates that the husband must demonstrate justice, fairness and equality amongst all his wives. he is warned of this dire punishment of paralysis and deformity in the hereafter, just as he paralyzed and deformed the rights of one of his wives in this world. it is unlawful for a man to mistreat his wife in any fashion with abuse, hardships, harassment, undue burdens, insults, beatings, abuse to her wealth and funds, forbidding her from lawful outings, etc in an attempt to force her to pay all that she possesses as ransom to her husband so that he may release her through divorce. islamic laws do permit the husband to impose certain restrictions upon the wife that displays some immoral and shameful conduct, dishonorable to him and his family, and harmful to the entire society and social order. the purpose of these restrictions is to seek her to return to proper behavior. those who continue to act indiscreetly, leading to suspicion of actual infidelity may be offered divorce, just as she may seek “khul” wherein she asks for dissolving the marriage contract due to his misbehavior.


 

the husband must give honorable and sufficient sustenance to his household according to his status and means. allah, the exalted, says:

(let the rich man spend according to his means, and the man whose resources are restricted, let him spend according to what allah has given him. allah puts no burden on any person beyond what he has given him. allah will grant after hardship ease.)


[65:7]

if a sufficiently rich man refuses to spend on his family in accordance with his level of means, and the wife was able to take a portion of his wealth, she may take that which satisfies her essential needs and that of her children, avoiding wastage and extravagance. hind bint ‘utbah came to the prophet (peace be upon him) complaining about her husband, saying:

“my husband is a miser and does not spend enough on me and his children.”


he replied: “take whatever suffices you and your child within proper bounds.”


[bukhari #5049]

if a husband came under heavy financial strain and was incapable of fulfilling his family’s financial needs, or if he left his wife for an extensive period of time, whereby the wife was harmed due to that absence, the wife is entitled to seek court intervention, if she desires to annul that marriage, as indicated by the verdicts of the jurists in islamic jurisprudence. the prophet of allah (peace be upon him) explained these rights when he said:

“fear allah in (the affairs of) women for you have taken them by the oath of allah, and made their intimate relations legal by the sacred word of allah: your right is that no one you dislike should (be allowed to enter) sit on your bed (or cushions), and if this happens then you may hit them lightly, and their right is that you feed and clothe them within proper bounds.”


[muslim #1218]

the prophet (peace be upon him) said to his companion sa’ad ibn abi waqqas (may allah exalt their mention):

“no amount you spend on your family seeking reward from allah but that he will reward you even if it is a bite of food that you put in your wife’s mouth.


[bukhari #2592 & muslim #1628]