fasting, pilgrimage, or her being away from him—provided she travelled with his permission.
If a man is absent from his wife for a time and, upon his return, claims that he had been sending her maintenance or had left her money from which to spend, while she denies it and demands support, and she did not bring the matter before a judge during his absence, then his word is accepted upon his oath.
But if, while he was away, she did present her case to the judge and the judge fixed her maintenance, and later the husband comes back and maintains that he had left her maintenance with her or had been remitting it to her, Mālik has two views. One of them is that the wife’s statement is accepted upon her oath.
When they disagree about a past period during which he was present the whole time, his word prevails with an oath.
A wife may refuse conjugal access and demand maintenance so long as he has not paid her dower, if that dower is presently due or was stipulated as prompt. Should she allow consummation of her own accord, she no longer has the right to withhold herself on account of the dower—even when it is immediately payable—unless he is solvent and affluent enough to pay it.
If, before consummation, the husband becomes insolvent regarding an immediate dower, the judge grants him successive deadlines as he sees fit; there is no fixed limit for this, but rather judicial discretion based on the likelihood that money may come to him through trade or otherwise. If the husband manages to pay, well and good; otherwise the judge separates them, and she pursues half of the dower as a debt against him. She is not entitled to maintenance because she is not observing any waiting period for him.
The fact that she had been receiving maintenance before consummation does not prevent her from withholding herself due to her unpaid, presently due dower, as mentioned above.
If the marriage contract stipulates a dower, part of it prompt and part deferred, and consummation is delayed until the deferred portion falls due, and she wishes to withhold herself until she receives the whole of her dower, she has that right. Ibn Wahb and al-Wāqidī have transmitted from Mālik, however, that she may not withhold herself once she has received the prompt portion but the husband is insolvent with respect to the deferred part, provided this is still before consummation.
Should he become unable to provide her maintenance after—