and if he does not find it, he may pursue her for it as a debt.

If he divorces her while he is away and does not inform her until she has already spent the maintenance, he has no claim against her, for the negligence was his.

Should he die, his heirs may audit her, because she is only permitted to spend his money during his lifetime. Whatever remains in her possession as of the day of his death must be returned.

A widow, whether pregnant or not, has no right to maintenance from her late husband’s estate. The cost of nursing the child she delivers is taken from the child’s own share of the inheritance; if the child has no property, the nursing is charged to the Muslim public treasury (bayt al-māl). None of the child’s upkeep is required from the heirs, his agnates, or the agnates of his father. Likewise, his mother—whether wealthy or poor—is not obliged to nurse him, unless he refuses to take milk from anyone else, in which case she must suckle him.

When an irrevocably divorced woman claims to be pregnant, she is not given maintenance until the pregnancy is confirmed by fetal movement. Once movement is felt, she is granted maintenance for the entire term of the pregnancy, from beginning to end. If she receives that maintenance and the pregnancy is later miscarried, Mālik held two views: one, that nothing is reclaimed from her; the other, that whatever was paid to her is recovered. The practical ruling is that she receives her maintenance month by month, and so on.