Admonition of wife for reformation: The Sharīʿah allows a man to enjoin and admonish his wife lightly for the sake of reformation. The Glorious Qur’ān says
As for those from whom you fear rebellion, admonish them and and if they don’t understand banish them to beds apart, and if then also they don’t understand scourge them. Then if they obey you, seek not a way against them-
Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasllam said in along hadees , if a woman don’t obey you , then hit them in a way that is not painfu
Allama Shaami (ra) states that husband is not allowed to hit for the sake of reforming and correcting his wife black and blue that will lead either to break her bones or to make her bleed her or to blacken her skin-
For what she may be punished
If she refuses to adorn herself for her husband-
She turns down the demand of physical contact without any Sharʿī or natural valid reason-
If she goes out of the home without the prior permission of her husband-
She does not pray ṣalāh (prayer), some fiqh scholars allow him to enjoin his wife while some others are of the opinion that husband does not have the right of punishment is reserved for only Almighty Allah-
Besides those mentioned above, a punishing is also permissible if she behaves badly with her husband, interacts with strangers, provides monetary support to people without taking consent of her husband or beats children too much-
Right of divorce
The Sharīʿah gives a special right to husband i.e. divorce It will be discussed later-
Right of inheritance
If the wife dies and leaves behind her wealth, then one fourth of the wealth will be given to her husband if she has children and half of the wealth will be given to her husband if she does not have any children and the remaining wealth will be distributed among other Sharʿī relatives-
Moral duties of a wife
Rights of the husband are actually the duties of wife. Islam makes a wife responsible for some more moral duties like breastfeeding, doing domestic services and so on-
Advising Sayyidnā ʿAlī and Sayyidah Fāṭimah, the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wasllam has divided domestic services and said that ʿAlī will be responsible for outside works and Fāṭimah will be responsible for in-house work. The scholars say that in-house work includes cooking, setting up bed, sweeping inside the house, providing water and so on-
Moreover, Sayyidah Asmā’, the daughter of Abū Bakr (rz) used to serve Zubayr (rz) a lot. Providing water, sweeping inside the house, taking care of animals and so on are the activities which she used to perform as ʿAllāmah Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah (ra) states in details-
In the lifetime of the Prophet and the blessed era after him, women would perform domestic works like sweeping, cooking and the likes. Therefore, they are the moral duties on the shoulders of a wife for her husband. But, if the husband is able to appoint a servant for domestic work, the wife will no longer be responsible for such in-house works as per Sharīʿah-Admonition of wife for reformation
