The Scope of Wife Maintenance (Nafaqa) in Confronting Emerging Needs of Contemporary Life: A Comparative Study in Imami Jurisprudence and Sunni Schools of Law

Abstract

This study, entitled “The Scope of the Wife’s Maintenance (Nafaqa) in Confronting the Emerging Needs of Contemporary Life: A Comparative Study in Imami Jurisprudence and Sunni Schools of Law,” seeks to clarify the extent to which the institution of maintenance, based on its classical foundations, is capable of adapting to the profound transformations of modern lifestyles, and how newly emerging needs—such as ordinary medical care, education, housing and modern domestic services, transportation, and communication and digital technologies—can be analyzed and incorporated within the framework of the wife’s maintenance. In the first section, the general Qur’anic and Sunna-based evidences are examined, demonstrating that, according to the revealed texts, the wife’s maintenance constitutes a fixed financial right owed by the husband. This right is grounded in criteria such as bil-ma‘rūf (according to what is customary and appropriate), mā yakfīki (what suffices you), and the rule “liyunfiq dhū sa‘atin min sa‘atihi… lā yukallifu Allāhu nafsan illā mā ātāhā”. This framework is designed such that customary practice, the woman’s social status, and the ordinary standard of living—together with the husband’s financial ability—are taken into account simultaneously. The second section investigates the divergent views of Imami jurisprudence and the Sunni schools concerning the criteria for determining the amount and scope of maintenance. Imami jurists consider maintenance a financial right arising from a valid marriage contract and normal tamkīn, and they adopt a composite criterion incorporating the husband’s economic condition, the wife’s status, and customary norms. By contrast, a significant portion of Sunni jurisprudence analyzes maintenance primarily within an exchange-based framework tied to tamkīn and iḥtibās, although custom and the circumstances of both spouses also play a substantial role in determining the amount and quality of maintenance. The third section applies these general principles to the emergent needs of contemporary life, showing that, based on the aforementioned texts and foundations, ordinary healthcare, basic education, housing equipped with essential amenities, part of transportation expenses, domestic services that remove hardship, and a minimal level of communication and internet access may—within the bounds of custom and the husband’s financial capacity—be included among the obligatory components of maintenance. The study concludes that both jurisprudential systems possess the foundational capacity necessary for expanding the scope of maintenance in response to emerging needs. However, the right-based approach characteristic of Imami jurisprudence, in comparison with the exchange-based approach prevalent in much of Sunni jurisprudence, offers a clearer and more coherent basis for transforming these emerging needs into enforceable financial rights.