or my family supported me”—then the basic presumption is that he did not provide maintenance. Yet in our case there is an apparent indication stronger than this presumption. For this reason, those scholars who held that, if she claims he did not support her, he must pay maintenance for the past were strongly criticized. It was said: “This view is neither accepted by customary practice nor endorsed by the Sacred Law. Is it customary for a woman to remain with her husband for a long period, then come and say, ‘You did not support me’?! This is far-fetched.”

Therefore, the student of knowledge must realize that the basic presumption does not always take precedence. There may be an apparent indication stronger than the presumption, and it is then given priority—whether in the matters mentioned here by the author or in those he will mention in the chapter on legal claims.