Allah has enjoined (1).

They also differed as to whether maintenance is obligatory as a form of support (2), like maintenance for relatives, or as consideration in an exchange, like the dower and wages. There are two views. The first is the position of Abū Hanīfa and Ahmad according to one report from him. The second is the position of al-Shāfi‘i and the well-known position of Ahmad.

On this basis, they held that, according to the first view, maintenance lapses with the passage of time if a judge has not formally assessed it, and the wife is not entitled to annul the marriage because of the husband’s insolvency (3). According to the second view, it does not lapse with the passage of time, just as wages do not, and she is entitled to annulment if he is unable to provide it, just as when he is incapable of intercourse. The same applies, according to the sound view, if he withholds it.

As for her rights over his person, they are of two kinds: marital companionship and sexual relations. Thus, if he were incapable of intercourse because his penis had been removed, she would be entitled to annulment by the unanimous agreement of the scholars. The same applies if he were impotent, notwithstanding a rare dissenting view on this matter.

If he makes an oath of abstention from her—that is, if he swears by Allah that he will not have intercourse with her at all, or for a period exceeding four months—she is entitled to separation by agreement of the Muslims, as indicated by the Glorious Quran in the words of Allah Most High:

“For those who swear to abstain from their wives, there is a waiting period of four months. But if they return, then surely Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (226) And if they resolve upon divorce, then surely Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.” [al-Baqara: 226–227]

However, most of them say that once four months have elapsed, he must either resume marital relations or divorce her, whereas some of them