Wife’s Alimony and its Role in Providing Financial Needs of Woman

One of the Qur’anic rulings in the field of family is the payment of alimony (nafaqah) to the wife by her husband. Since in the contemporary society, women have an equal or superior economic and social position that sometimes the compliance or non-compliance of this task causes problems between couples, the present study by using the descriptive-analytical method with document-library tools aims to answer the questions, “What is the legal basis of the payment of alimony in the permanent marriage?” and “Can the payment of alimony be a function of the economic conditions of the couple?” Findings indicate that the concept of alimony directly implies its philosophy, which is to meet the needs of wife through husband. One of the main Qur'anic foundations also expresses the economic needs of women due to lack of employment and income. It also proves the rationality of such obligation. Also, the philosophy of need is confirmed on the basis of narratives. From the jurisprudential view, alimony is more compatible with the principles of “need” and “compensation of retention.” Reasons such as non-devotional nature of alimony, non-compensation of alimony, theory of validity of non-alimony condition, rightfulness of alimony, conventional conjecture and exigencies of society, and macro policies of the country prove that alimony obligation is based on the woman's need and in case of her need, it is absolutely necessary, but in case of self-sufficiency and having income, its ruling can be determined based on its philosophy. In addition, in case of return of need, the ruling of obligation can be established again.