Possibility of Satisfying the Wife’s Right to Alimony from the Husband’s Illicit Assets

Document Type : Specialized Article

Authors

1 PhD student in Jurisprudence and Fundamental Islamic Law, Imam Sadegh (AS) University- Sister Campus, Tehran, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Department of Jurisprudence and Islamic Law, Imam Sadeq University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Alimony is one of the most important financial rights of a wife, granted to her on the condition of a permanent marriage and full compliance with her husband. This institution holds a special place in the Islamic legal system, as the wife’s alimony takes precedence over other causes of maintenance obligations in Islam. As a current debt owed by the husband, it plays a significant role in strengthening the family structure and promoting social justice. Given the importance of this issue, the present study examines, from a jurisprudential perspective, the possibility of a wife receiving alimony from her husband’s illicit income. To this end, after defining the concept, causes of obligation, and instances of the wife’s alimony, as well as discussing the husband’s earnings and prohibited gains, the study analyzes the opinions of eminent jurists and the fatwas of supreme religious authorities, in light of the absence of explicit verses or narrations on this subject. This research is fundamental–applied in nature and employs a library–documentary method. The findings indicate that it is impermissible for a wife to receive or use her husband’s illicit property as alimony under normal, non-emergency circumstances. In other words, the provision of alimony from unlawful assets is permissible only in cases of necessity and subject to specific conditions, such as severe harm to the wife if alimony is not provided. Therefore, based on the rule of necessity (qā‘idat al-iḍṭirār), this exception applies to all cases of a wife’s alimony, provided that the conditions of necessity are duly met.

Keywords

Main Subjects

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Biannual Journal of Family Law And Jurisprudence
Volume 30, Issue 83
June 2025
Pages 279-306

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