up to four wives does not imply that, when he has only one, her position while she is alone with him is to be treated as it would be if she had co-wives. Allah knows best.

If the wife asks for it and the husband is able, he is obliged to have marital relations with her at least once every third of a year, for Allah fixed the limit of four months for the muʾli (the husband who has sworn to abstain), and the same principle applies to others. Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah held that intercourse is obligatory to the extent that suffices the wife, so long as it does not harm the husband or distract him from earning a livelihood, without tying the duty to any set interval.

If the husband stays away for more than half a year and the wife requests his return, he must come back—unless he is on a journey for obligatory Hajj, obligatory jihad, or is genuinely unable to return. Should he refuse without a valid excuse and the wife seek separation, the judge separates them after corresponding with him, because he has neglected a right of hers and she is harmed by that neglect.

Shaykh Taqī al-Dīn said: “The harm that befalls a wife when intercourse is withheld warrants annulment in every circumstance, whether the husband intended it or not, whether he is able or unable—this is like the right to maintenance, and even more deserving.”

It is forbidden for either spouse to speak about what takes place between them in matters of sexual enjoyment. Muslim relates that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Among the worst of people in Allah’s sight on the Day of Resurrection is a man who has relations with his wife and she with him, then he spreads her secret and she spreads his.” This shows that it is unlawful for spouses to divulge any of their intimate affairs, whether in word or in deed.

The husband may prevent his wife from leaving the house for anything other than a genuine necessity; so