Wednesday, 29 April 2026 (12 Dhuʻl-Qiʻdah 1447 AH)
Question: If a man prevents his daughter from returning to her husband, a dispute arises between the husband and the father, and matters culminate in divorce—while the wife was pregnant and then gave birth—does the wife, in this case, deserve maintenance for the waiting period? Is it permissible to reclaim the dowry and gold at divorce?
And may the husband take the newborn from his mother on the pretext of nushūz (defiance), though she desires that the child remain with her without wage? Note that the marital relationship between the spouses had been sound, with no ill-treatment or defiance; what happened came solely from the father, and nothing else… etc.
The answer—and Allah is the One who grants success and aid: If the father is as described, then he has transgressed and wronged both spouses. Yes: in such a case it is permissible for the husband to take back some of the dowry and the like, and she has no maintenance—by analogy with the nāshizah (defiant wife) and with the woman who embraced Islam while married to a disbelieving husband.
As for the child: what appears is that it is not permissible for the husband to take the child from its mother, for she is not, in reality, nāshizah; she is rather being detained by her father.
If it be said: Why did you permit the husband to take back the dowry but not the child?
We say: We permitted him to reclaim the dowry for the enjoyment that was lost to him with his wife; and it is not just that both the wife and the wealth be lost to him. The child is not analogous: it is not permissible to drive the mother to distraction over her child without any cause issuing from her or brought upon herself. If the father wronged his daughter by detaining her from her husband, it is not permissible for the husband to compound her misery. Allah—Exalted is He—said: "And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression." [Al-Māʾidah:2]; and He—Exalted is He—said: "And do not forget graciousness between you…" [Al-Baqarah:237]. This latter verse is an address to husbands who have divorced their wives: that even if they divorced them, it remains obligatory to observe the prior marital bonds.
Source : Min Thimār al-ʿIlm wa al-Ḥikmah vol.1