His statement, “Clothing”: What clothing must he provide her? If it is summer, he must provide her with both summer and winter clothing; and if it is winter, he must likewise provide her with both winter and summer clothing. She has the right to require him to do so. That is, if it is summer and she says, “I want three garments for the summer and ten garments for the winter, and I want them now,” she has the right to oblige him to provide them.

Question: If a new year begins and her clothing from the previous year is still intact, may she require him to provide new clothing?

The established position of the school is that she may require it, because the author says, “She is entitled to clothing once every year, at its beginning.” He did not say, “She is entitled to clothing if the first set has become worn out and is no longer fit for use.” Indeed, the Companions of the school go even further, stating that her covers, bedding, and the like are to be renewed for her every year along with her clothing.

However, this is a weak view. The correct view is that we refer in this matter to what the Quran and Sunnah indicate: maintenance according to what is customary and reasonable. This is not customary and reasonable, for it is not customary and reasonable for a man to bring his wife new clothes while her first clothes remain fit for use. Customary practice is that whenever the clothes are no longer fit for use, the husband renews them. Therefore, if these clothes were burned before the year had ended, then according to the established position of the school, the husband is not required to buy new clothing until the beginning of the next year. According to the preponderant view, however, he is required to do so—unless the wife was negligent or at fault, in which case we may say that he is not required to provide replacements. Likewise, if she is a woman who, whenever new garments appear, says to her husband, “I want some of them,” then he is not obliged to provide them.