Answer
Wa `alaykum as-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
All what a woman earns is considered her own income. However, she is best advised to share in the family expenses, especially in the difficult circumstances people live nowadays.
In his response to your question, Sheikh Muhammad Nur Abdullah, President of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and member of the Fiqh Council of North America, states:
It is true that whatever the wife makes is considered her own income. Allah Almighty says,
“To men is allotted what they earn, and to women what they earn: But ask God of His bounty. For God has full knowledge of all things.” (An-Nisa’ 4:32)
It is also reported that the wife of Abdullah ibn Masud (may Allah be pleased with him) used to work and earn a living. One day, she asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) if she could donate her money to her poor husband, to which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied, “Yes, and you will be rewarded twice.”(An-Nasa’i)
Having said that and given the difficult financial circumstances that people face nowadays, it is advised that the wife contributes to the family by sharing some of the family expenses.
Allah Almighty knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.