Is it obligatory for a wife to perform her household duties, or not? And what is the evidence for that?

Al-Halabi : Is it obligatory for a wife to perform her household duties, or not? And what is the evidence for that?

The Shaykh : There is no doubt in the obligation of a woman serving her husband, whether this service is in her home or in his field.
The evidence for this is two matters. The first is the statement of our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) in the Qur'an: They have rights over the husband similar to what the husband has over them. What are these rights that the woman has for her husband? The Salafi practice, starting from the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to the wives of his Companions, this practical practice that our righteous predecessors, men and women, followed, every spouse fulfilled the rights of the other. We read in the authentic biography, and especially in *Sahih al-Bukhari*: The marks of labor appeared on her hands from using the small millstone called the jarushah to the end of the hadith. The point is that it was obligatory upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)—and I do not say he was able to, but it was obligatory upon him—to remove her complaint if it were not obligatory for her to serve her husband. To put it more clearly, if the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had known from the legislation of Allah what some schools of jurisprudence claim, both in the past and present, such as the Hanafi school, for example, that "a woman is not obligated to do any service for her husband except intercourse," meaning the bed, i.e., sleeping, even making the bed is not obligatory for her, but only sexual intercourse as they say today. If the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had known from the revelation of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) that it is not obligatory for a wife to serve her husband at all, he would have removed her complaint by saying to her husband: "Do not burden your wife with serving you, for it is not obligatory for her to do this service, especially the service whose marks appeared on her hands." More specifically, this is Fatimah, the daughter of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). She has a special status and a distinction over other wives, as came in *Sahih al-Bukhari*: So, naturally, 'Ali refrained from marrying another woman besides Fatimah after hearing this hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). The point is, if it were not obligatory for Fatimah to serve 'Ali in that service, he would have forbidden him from burdening her with such service, just as he forbade him from what is originally permissible, which is as Allah said: This is permissible for all Muslims. So if the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade him from marrying another woman, and the original ruling for this marriage for the general Muslims is permissibility, then it is even more so that he would forbid 'Ali from burdening Fatimah to serve him in this service, which is not obligatory for her. But when we saw him (peace and blessings be upon him) remain silent about it and be patient with her by saying to her (peace and blessings be upon him): And he mentioned the well-known dhikr that we mentioned earlier. This is from the reality of the Salafi practice. And from that is what also came in *Sahih al-Bukhari*: If this work were not permissible by the Shari'ah, or even not obligatory, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) would not have approved it, and he would have been explicit with the men and clarified to them when he said to them in general: He would have clarified to them that burdening your women with serving you is not from the good. But since the matter was the opposite, meaning that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) approved the service of women to men, and especially the lady of women at that time, Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her), he approved her serving her husband 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). This action and this good practice were an explanation of the previous verse: Then, reality and justice should be as the reality is in the Shari'ah. If it is not obligatory for a woman to perform the service of her husband in his home or in his interests that she is able to perform, then who will manage the home as they say today? And the man is obligated to leave his home to engage in work outside the home, as is the reality of men's lives always and forever. So who will do what is necessary in the home? Here, one of two things must happen: either the man is burdened with a second job on top of his work, and the woman remains like a princess, only to be enjoyed, which is not of the right at all. Therefore, the right is what came in the noble verse and the fragrant, bright practice that we mentioned some of its texts earlier: that it is obligatory for the wife to serve her husband. But without doubt, that is within the limits of her capacity. The matter differs from a healthy wife to a sick wife, from a strong wife to a weak wife, and so on. The matter returns to what is known. Otherwise, please, go ahead.