Wives’ Property Rights in Muslim Family Law
A Comparative Analysis of Indonesia, Egypt, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31958/jisrah.v7i02.17286Abstract
This study analyzes the legal status of property acquired by a wife during marriage (harta pencarian istri) from the perspective of Islamic family law, with a comparative focus on Indonesia, Egypt, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia. Using a normative-juridical method with a comparative-qualitative approach, this study examines primary legal sources the Qur’an, Hadith, Indonesia’s Marriage Law and Compilation of Islamic Law (KHI), Egypt’s Personal Status Law, Morocco’s Moudawana (Family Code) of 2004, Saudi Arabia’s 2022 Personal Status Law, and Malaysia’s Islamic Family Law Act 1984 together with secondary academic literature. The findings show that classical Islamic family law uniformly recognizes a wife’s independent ownership of property she earns through work, business, or profession, a principle rooted in QS. An-Nisa verse 32 and shared across all five jurisdictions. However, the degree of codification diverges: Indonesia and Malaysia recognize a statutory concept of jointly acquired marital property (harta bersama/harta sepencarian), while Egypt and Saudi Arabia retain separation of property as the governing default with no comparable joint-property doctrine. Morocco occupies a middle position, applying separation of property by default under Article 49 of the Moudawana while allowing spouses to contractually agree on joint asset management. Across all jurisdictions, the husband’s duty of maintenance (nafkah/nafaqa) remains undiminished by a wife’s income. This comparative mapping offers a more complete framework for understanding the legal protection of women’s economic rights within Muslim family law and its relevance to ongoing legal reform in Indonesia.
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