Is it permissible for a wife to take zakah if her husband does not provide for her?

Question : A woman is seeking zakah, and her husband has a salary of two and a half thousand, and he has a house that he rents out for twenty-five thousand riyals. He pays from it approximately ten thousand to settle a bank loan. When she is told, "Why do you take zakah when your husband is well-off?" she says that, according to her, he does not provide her with sufficient maintenance. Is it permissible for her to seek zakah?

Answer : First, if a person is self-sufficient through the obligatory maintenance of one of his relatives or of a husband, if he is a wife, then it is not permissible for him to take from the zakah. If the relative or the husband refuses to provide maintenance, then the one who has the right may take from his wealth without his knowledge. So, if a woman, for example, is not provided for by her husband, she may take from his wealth without his knowledge, and this is not considered theft or betrayal. This is because Hind bint 'Utbah came to the Prophet and the Prophet said , so he permitted her to take from his wealth without his knowledge. If she cannot do that, and her husband is stingy, and if she says, "Give me," he does not give her, or he threatens her with divorce if she asks, because some men have no fear of Allah and no honor, saying to their wives, "If you ask me for maintenance, I will divorce you," then in this case, she may take from the zakah what is sufficient for her and her children, if their father does not provide for them.