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Fatwa #4419120 February 2020Canada

Looking after the wife & the sister, what should be done?

Checked by Mufti Ebrahim Desai

Question

As salaamu alaikum,

Please advise regarding the following scenario;
A lady in her 50s has no interest in marriage and lives with only mahram, a brother who is married. The lady in question has a tendency to interfere with her brother and sister-in-law's marital life, and has become increasingly difficult to live with. Her brother feels obliged to allow her to live with them, because she has no other mahram. Is he obliged by shariah to have her live with them, especially when she has interfering tendencies? She has also expressed her willingness to getting her own place recently.
Jazakallah

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

The brother in reference has a responsibility towards his wife as well as towards his sister. His responsibility towards his wife is to provide her accommodation in which she can maintain her privacy. His responsibility towards his sister is to maintain her if she has no source of income. If she has her own wealth, then the brother is not obliged to maintain her or keep her in the same house. In the enquired situation, if she expressed willingness to live by herself, then that will be the solution for her interference you refer to.

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best

Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.

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