Non-Necessity of General Obedience to Husband When Household Expenditures Are Paid by Wife

The need to get husband’s permission to leave the house is taken for granted in Shi’ite jurisprudence. However, there follows a question that if the husband refuses to fulfill his marital duties, is he still entitled to command and prohibit his wife and having authority over her and is the woman bound to obey her husband?
Findings: Some scholars believe that proofs on women’s duties are absolute and a woman shall not refuse to perform her obligatory duties even if the husband fails to fulfill his marital duties. This does not seem to be acceptable since the evidence proves it to be a general decree, not applicable to all cases. Moreover, the tradition by Sufyān Ibn ‘Uyaynah relies on application of these traditions. However, according to verse 34 of Sūrat al-Nisā in the Qur’an, a superior status and the act of paying maintenance may lead to the man’s authority over the woman. When the cause is absent, the given decree will be null and void and the man will no longer have the right to custody or authority over his wife.
Discussion and When a woman pays the household expenditures on her own, she will no longer be responsible to obey her husband nor to get his permission to leave the house for work. Even if the primary decree which requires the wife to obey her husband is regarded as an absolute rule, this duty will be removed under the secondary decrees such as "the principle of no harm" as well as "the denial of distress and hardship". Moreover, the woman will be allowed to leave the house for work in order to provide living expenses.