We continue to see reports of women being divorced because of disputes with their husbands over bank loans — and the money always ends up in the husband’s pocket. The sad part of the story is that the woman suffers twice at the hands of husband. After obtaining the bank loan in her name, the husband takes the money using various justifications, including starting a business to support the family. And should the wife object, she gets nothing but a piece of paper saying that she has been divorced. Figures show that 80 percent of bank loans taken by women go directly to their husbands; in other words, a large group of working women in this country are victims of abusive husbands determined to exploit their wives financially for their own profit. There are husbands who consider the money their wives earn to be their own. Some even demand that the woman turn her money over to them the same day she receives her check. Others believe that as protectors and maintainers of women, they have the right to take women’s money without their consent. Some working women of course support themselves, their children and even other family members. This effectively negates the husband’s standing as sustainer and protector; in fact, in this situation, husbands have failed to fulfill their responsibilities and obligations to their families. I wonder why many husbands fail to realize that a working woman has every right to keep the money she earns and why the husbands tend to overlook that the responsibility to sustain the family lies wholly with them. Husbands who pressure their wives into getting a bank loan and force them to hand over the money they earn from work and then use this money for their own benefit are committing gross violations of these women’s rights. Some husbands go even further and take a second wife using the money they have illegally taken from the first wife. We hear of cases of women who stand by their husbands and help them establish a business, sharing the good times and bad, and in the end all they get is a divorce. There are even husbands who refuse to work and live on their wives’ salaries. I remember the outstanding example of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) who managed the wealth and business of his wife, Khadija, without taking anything at all from it.
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