Family Law II(Mohammedan Law)

Maintenance
Maintenance(Nafaqa) among
Mohammedans
Arabic word Nafaqa means what a person spends
over his family.

Maintenance includes three things-

Food,clothing,lodging
Kharcha-i-Pandan(Duty to Maintain)
Duty of husband to maintain his wife and children
Wife is also under duty to be obedient towards her
husband
Spouse can enter into an agreement that the husband
will pay special allowance to his wife
Such allowance are called Kharcha-i-Pandan or
Guzara or Mewa Khori
It is absolute property of wife & she is at liberty to use
it according to her sweet will
It is a personal allowance and it can not be transferred
Liability for Maintenance
A person becomes liable for maintenance-
To his wife
Children, grand children, aged parents & other
relatives
To his servant
A Muslim is under an obligation to maintain the
following persons-
His descendants
His ascendants
His wife
Principles of Maintenance
As a general rule, no relation except a wife has any
claim for maintenance
But a Muslim is bound to provide and is entitled to
receive maintenance
According to Hanafi law, mainentance arise between
prohibited degree of relationship also
According to Muslim law, only those persons are
entitled to maintenance who are indigent and are
unable to earn their livelihood
Father’s Liability
Minor Children

Unmarried daughter

Married daughter, if she is poor

Adult son, if he is indigent

Right of Divorced Women
Maintenance of wife under the Muslim
Women(Protection of Rights on Divorce)Act,1986
& Section 125 Cr.P.C.
Father’s obligations to maintain children is
absolute(out of dissolved wedlock)
Section 3(1)(b) of Act contemplates the divorce wife’s
right to claim maintenance in respect of her children
Right of children is separate and independent of the
divorcee wife’s right to claim maintenance
Mother’s Liability
When the father has no means and is
indigent, the mother is liable to maintain her
children

But she is entitled to recover the expenses

from the father when circumstances permit
Grand Parent’s Liability
If father or mother fails to maintain their children
It is the duty of grand parents maternal or paternal
Father-in-law’s liability- There is no obligation on
father-in-law to maintain the widow of his son
Children’s Liability- Children are liable to provide
maintenance to their parents
Grand Children’s Liability- If there are no children,
it is the liability of grand children to provide
maintenance to their grand parents
Wife’s right to be maintained by the
husband
If there is valid marriage

If there is Pre-nuptial agreement

Wife is not entitled to Maintenance
She abandons the conjugal domicile without any valid cause
She refuses access to her husband
She is disobedient
She refuses to live
She has been awarded imprisonment
She is minor and marriage can not be consummated
She deserts her husband and does not perform her marital duties
When she has remarried
Where such woman has received the due to her on divorce under
any customary or personal law
Where the woman after obtaining divorce has voluntarily
surrendered her right to maintenance
Duration of Maintenance
During the period of Iddat
Land mark Judgement-
Shah Bano Begum Vs. Mohammad Ahmad Khan
 AIR 1985 SC 945
Chandrachud C.J. expressed the opinion that under
Muslim law, a divorced wife unable to maintain herself
is entitled to maintenance during her life time or until
she remarries. She can claim maintenance u/s
125Cr.P.C. because so long as she has not remarried,
she is a wife for the purpose of Section 125 Cr.P.C.