Majmu' al-Fatawa - Ibn Taimiya - (32/274)

Chapter on Marital Disobedience

Shaykh al-Islām—may Allah have mercy on him—was asked:

A man has a wife who fasts during the day and prays at night. Whenever he calls her to bed, she refuses, giving precedence to night prayer and daytime fasting over obedience to her husband. Is this permissible?

He replied:

This is not lawful for her, by the agreement of the Muslims. Rather, she must obey him when he calls her to bed; this is a binding obligation upon her. Night prayer and daytime fasting, however, are voluntary acts. How, then, can a believing woman give precedence to a voluntary act over an obligatory one? The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—even said, in the hadith narrated by al-Bukhārī and Muslim from Abū Hurayrah:

“It is not lawful for a woman to fast while her husband is present except with his permission, nor may she admit anyone into his house without his permission.”

Abū Dāwūd, Ibn Mājah and others also narrated it, with the wording:

“A woman must not fast a day outside Ramadan while her husband is present except with his permission.”

Thus, if the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—has forbidden a woman to observe a voluntary fast while her husband is present without his permission, since by fasting she withholds some of what she owes him:

بَابُ النُّشُوزِ سُئِلَ شَيْخُ الْإِسْلَامِ - رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ -: عَنْ رَجُلٍ لَهُ زَوْجَةٌ تَصُومُ النَّهَارَ وَتَقُومُ اللَّيْلَ وَكُلَّمَا دَعَاهَا الرَّجُلُ إلَى فِرَاشِهِ تَأْبَى عَلَيْهِ وَتُقَدِّمُ صَلَاةَ اللَّيْلِ وَصِيَامَ النَّهَارِ عَلَى طَاعَةِ الزَّوْجِ: فَهَلْ يَجُوزُ ذَلِكَ؟ فَأَجَابَ: لَا يَحِلُّ لَهَا ذَلِكَ بِاتِّفَاقِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ؛ بَلْ يَجِبُ عَلَيْهِ أَنْ تُطِيعَهُ إذَا طَلَبَهَا إلَى الْفِرَاشِ وَذَلِكَ فَرْضٌ وَاجِبٌ عَلَيْهَا. وَأَمَّا قِيَامُ اللَّيْلِ وَصِيَامُ النَّهَارِ فَتَطَوُّعٌ: فَكَيْفَ تُقَدِّمُ مُؤْمِنَةٌ النَّافِلَةَ عَلَى الْفَرِيضَةِ حَتَّى قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فِي الْحَدِيثِ الَّذِي رَوَاهُ الْبُخَارِيُّ وَمُسْلِمٌ عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ: {لَا يَحِلُّ لِلْمَرْأَةِ أَنْ تَصُومَ وَزَوْجُهَا شَاهِدٌ إلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ وَلَا تَأْذَنَ فِي بَيْتِهِ إلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ} وَرَوَاهُ أَبُو دَاوُد وَابْنُ مَاجَه وَغَيْرُهُمَا وَلَفْظُهُمْ: {لَا تَصُومُ امْرَأَةٌ وَزَوْجُهَا شَاهِدٌ يَوْمًا مِنْ غَيْرِ رَمَضَانَ إلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ} فَإِذَا كَانَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَدْ حَرَّمَ عَلَى الْمَرْأَةِ أَنْ تَصُومَ تَطَوُّعًا إذَا كَانَ زَوْجُهَا شَاهِدًا إلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ فَتَمْنَعُ بِالصَّوْمِ بَعْضَ مَا يَجِبُ لَهُ عَلَيْهَا: