Rethinking Financial Responsibility in Muslim Families: A Critical Analysis of Nafaqah in Classical and Contemporary Islamic Jurisprudence

Abstract

The classical doctrine of nafaqah in Islamic family law generally establishes the husband as the primary financial provider, a framework historically developed alongside gendered assumptions concerning marital roles, authority, and economic dependency. However, contemporary Muslim families increasingly exhibit dual-earner arrangements, female  breadwinners, unequal economic capacities, and more reciprocal patterns of household decision-making, generating a significant normative tension between inherited jurisprudential doctrines and changing socio-economic realities. This study aims to critically reassess the concept of nafaqah by examining its underlying legal assumptions, comparing classical and contemporary Islamic jurisprudential formulations, and developing a more context-responsive framework of financial responsibility within Muslim families. Employing a qualitative doctrinal research design, the study utilizes a comparative and critical approach to classical fiqh literature, contemporary Islamic legal scholarship, Qur’anic principles, and the conceptual frameworks of maqāṣid al-sharīʿah, reciprocity, justice, and family welfare. The analysis demonstrates that although classical jurisprudence provides a coherent framework for protecting family subsistence, its predominantly husband-centered allocation of financial responsibility becomes insufficient when treated as an immutable legal structure. Contemporary reinterpretations indicate that the ethical objectives of nafaqah can be preserved while its implementation is recalibrated according to mutual cooperation, proportional economic capacity, and the welfare of the family. The study proposes a shift from exclusively gender-based responsibility toward a reciprocal and capacity-sensitive model, contributing to the development of more equitable and contextually responsive Islamic family law.