Children's Responsibility When Wives Work

Question

Assalamu alaikum shaikh,if wife stipulated conditions prior to the marriage that, she will continue her job/work & husband agreed to that then she married him for this reason. In that case , is husband obliged to provide their kids with care during wife's work hours by keeping him/her in child care centres /nursery/day care centres / preschool centres/alike or allowing reliable nanny/babysitter/housemaid/maid in his house for looking after kids or keeping the child to husband's mother/wife's mother/any reliable relatives in his house /wife's father's house /other suitable places or making any other suitable arrangement for caring of the child cause he agreed to wife's condition of continuing works?

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad  is His slave and Messenger.

The most preponderant opinion of the jurists is that if a woman has stipulated a condition for her interest on her husband, and this condition does not contradict the objective of the (marriage) contract, then he must fulfill it for her. This based on the Hadeeth that is reported by Al-Bukhaari and Muslim in which the Prophet  said: "The most deserving of the conditions to be fulfilled are those by which you made the private parts of your spouses lawful for you."

The husband must fulfill the condition of his wife if she had stipulated to work, but it appears –Allah knows best –that he is not obliged to bear the responsibility of the children alone because of his consent to the condition mentioned. This is because his consent entails renouncing his right for her to stay at home. However, his consent does not necessitate renouncing any other rights or the rights of his children on her.

The decision of the Islamic Fiqh Council on marital differences, in relation to stipulating the condition of working (by the wife):

"1) It is permissible for the wife to stipulate in the marriage contract the right to work outside the house. If the husband agrees, then he is obliged to fulfill it. The condition must be stipulated explicitly at the time of conducting the contract.

2) The husband is permitted to ask his wife to leave work after he grants her permission, if leaving her work is for the interest of the family and the children." [End of quote]

Both spouses should have a mutual understanding and respect in such matters and they should both strive to achieve what is in the best interest of the family.

Allah knows best. -islamweb.net