Written By Habiba Nazir When the Supreme Court of Pakistan recently held that a husband is bound to provide maintenance to his wife regardle...
Written By Habiba Nazir
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When the Supreme Court of Pakistan recently held that a husband is bound to provide maintenance to his wife regardless of rukhsati (cohabitation), it quietly rewrote a long and painful chapter of injustice. For some, this may appear to be a minor or technical clarification within family law. For countless women across Pakistan, however, it is nothing short of life-changing.
In our social landscape, marriage is
not merely a formal commitment; it is a process of transition. In many
families, nikahis solemnized while rukhsati is delayed, sometimes
for weeks, sometimes for years. During this in-between phase, women have
routinely been told that their right to maintenance begins only after rukhsati.
This was not a harmless technicality. It was a legal fiction that left women
economically vulnerable, emotionally abandoned, and exposed to neglect and
abuse.
The Supreme Court has now clarified
what should never have been ambiguous: a husband’s duty of maintenance begins
at the moment of nikah. This recognition restores dignity to women who
were previously left unprotected, women who were legally wives but treated as if
their status was conditional or incomplete simply because cultural rituals had
not yet been performed.
The Old
Legal Position in Pakistan
Before this judgment, maintenance
disputes were often resolved in ways that disproportionately disadvantaged
women. Husbands could conveniently evade responsibility by indefinitely
delaying rukhsati, leaving wives in a legal and financial limbo. Many
women trapped in such marriages were forced to ask painful questions: What
does my husband owe me now that I am his wife? What security do I have
if I am abandoned before rukhsati? What will this mean for my future, or
for my children?
These are not abstract legal
questions; they are deeply human concerns that shape real lives and real
relationships. The Court’s ruling removes a distinction that should never have
existed. Once a marriage contract is concluded, the obligations that flow from
it, grounded both in law and Islamic injunctions, are triggered in full. They are
not suspended by custom, convenience, or patriarchal interpretation.
Restoring
Dignity and Legal Clarity
This judgment allows women to engage
with the law free from the misogynistic assumptions that have long surrounded
marriage. It affirms that a woman’s dignity does not depend on cultural
milestones or performative rituals, but on her status as a legal spouse and as
a human being.
Pakistani women, in particular,
deserve the protection the law was meant to provide, especially within a legal
framework they did not design but are expected to obey. The apologetic
undertone that often surrounds women’s marital rights, as if claiming them were
somehow improper or excessive, serves no practical or moral purpose. It
distracts from the fundamental reality that marriage is a contract carrying
enforceable obligations.
Fault has never been the determining
factor in such matters, and it remains irrelevant now. Once a marriage exists,
it cannot be selectively honored. A spouse cannot retain the legal status of a
wife while refusing to fulfill the responsibilities that status entails.
A Step
Toward Equity and Fairness
This ruling is critical for women in
the most precarious circumstances, but its message goes even further. It tells
women that the law stands with them when tradition fails them. It tells men
that a wife’s rights are not optional, negotiable, or deferred, they are
mandatory.
When women are afforded safety,
respect, and economic security, families are less likely to descend into
exploitation, violence, or conflict. Justice within the household is not a
private concern; it is foundational to social stability and national well-being.
Conclusion
This decision is far more than a
legal clarification. It is a recognition of women’s dignity as human beings. No
wife can be abandoned simply because rukhsati, often delayed for cultural
reasons has not occurred. The ruling aligns the law with both Shariah and
common sense, finally closing a loophole that allowed women to suffer in
silence for far too long.
What is needed now is awareness.
Women must know and assert their rights. Men must understand and fulfill their
duties. If this judgment is properly understood and implemented, it has the
potential not only to protect individual women, but to foster a fairer, more
compassionate society for all.
This article was written by the author with limited assistance from AI tools for editing and clarity. All opinions, arguments, and conclusions are solely those of the author.
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