The report also states: “except that the One who is in heaven remains wrathful with her until he is pleased with her,” meaning her husband. In the earlier wording it says, “until morning,” whereas here the matter is tied to the husband’s satisfaction. That span may therefore be shorter or longer: he might be content before dawn, or he might not be pleased for a day or two. The decisive point is that for as long as the husband is angered with her, Allah is angered with her.

This shows the magnitude of the husband’s right over his wife—but only when the husband himself discharges her rights. If he behaves rebelliously (nushūz) and fails in his duty toward her, she is entitled to seek redress and withhold part of his marital rights, in keeping with Allah’s words: “So whoever transgresses against you, transgress against him to the extent that he transgressed against you” (Qur’an 2:194) and “If you retaliate, then retaliate with the like of that with which you were harmed” (16:126).

However, when the husband is upright and fulfils her dues, and she is the one who becomes defiant and withholds his right, then this is the penalty prescribed for her when he summons her to his bed and she refuses.

In short, the wording of this hadith is unrestricted in itself, yet it is qualified by the condition that the husband be fulfilling her rights. Should he fail to do so, she may exact equitable recompense and deprive him of his right just as he deprived her of hers, as endorsed by the two verses cited above.

Furthermore, the hadith provides clear evidence for the position of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamāʿah and the early generations that Allah is “in heaven,” that is, exalted above His Throne, above the seven heavens, and that the phrase “in heaven” does not merely refer to His dominion in