Does the husband have the right to reclaim advanced maintenance if divorce, death, annulment, apostasy, or conversion occurs before the prepaid period ends?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Maintenance (Nafaqāt)
Primary text
If the husband advances maintenance for a month or a year, and subsequently divorces her, she dies, or the marriage is dissolved by annulment, conversion to Islam by one spouse, or apostasy, the husband has the right to reclaim the maintenance for the remaining period.
Supporting text
Abu Hanifah and Abu Yusuf hold that the husband cannot reclaim it because advanced maintenance is considered a gift (*salah*), and once the recipient possesses a gift, the giver has no right to take it back, analogous to voluntary charity. The counter-argument asserts that maintenance is compensation for the wife's availability (*tamkin*), and since availability has ceased, the right to reclamation is established, similar to advancing Zakat before the due date when the wealth is subsequently destroyed.