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

When a woman and her husband bring a dispute over maintenance and clothing before a judge, whose word is to be accepted: hers or his? May the judge set a specific amount for maintenance and clothing? Please explain the rulings on these two questions, together with their evidence.

He answered:

Praise be to Allah. If a woman has been living in her husband’s home for some time, eating, drinking, and clothing herself in the customary manner, and the spouses then dispute this, with her saying, “You neither maintained nor clothed me; rather, someone else provided these things,” and him saying, “Rather, I provided the maintenance and clothing,” then the scholars hold two views concerning this.

“One view” is that his word is to be accepted. This is the correct view, held by the majority. A comparable case is that of a man who undertakes to teach his wife a craft as her dower. She learns it, but they then dispute who taught her. He says, “I taught her,” while she says, “I learned it from someone else.” There are two opinions on this within the schools of al-Shāfiʿī and Ahmad.

The correct position in all these cases is that the word of the person whose account is supported by customary practice is to be accepted. This is Mālik’s position. Abū Hanīfah likewise agrees that she is not entitled to anything from him, because, according to him, the obligation to pay maintenance lapses with the passage of time, as does maintenance for relatives. This is also one view within Ahmad’s school.

Those who hold this view say: