He is likewise obliged to provide for his descendants and ascendants, whether they are heirs in practice or prevented from inheriting, and he must support his collateral relatives if he would be their heir, whether by a fixed share or through agnatic succession.

Maintenance for parents, children, and collaterals is meant as mutual assistance; for this reason two conditions apply:

1. The provider must have the means, either in existing wealth or through earnings.
2. The recipient must be in need.

The extent of maintenance is bound by what is customarily acceptable, and custom changes with time, place, and circumstance. The Exalted says, “Let a man of ample means spend out of his abundance, and let him whose provision is restricted spend from what Allah has given him. Allah does not burden any soul with more than He has given it.” ⦗Al-Ṭalāq 65:7⦘

He also says, “And women have rights similar to the obligations upon them, in accordance with what is fair.” ⦗Al-Baqarah 2:228⦘

Shaykh al-Islām remarked, “This encompasses every right the woman has over her husband, and the standard for all of it is what people commonly recognize among themselves.”