ABSTRACT
The complex of rights and duties assigned to the wife by virtue of the marriage reflects a balance adapted to the patrilineal and patriarchal structure of the family. The amount of maintenance is fixed by agreement between the spouses or, in the absence of agreement, by the shari'a court. Hundreds of maintenance and obedience judgments indeed reflect a complex set of relationships between the spouses within the framework of the extended family, with all its typical manifestations and tensions. The declaration of a wife as rebellious is the customary legal sanction against her refusal to obey. The salient feature in the qadis' dealing with maintenance and obedience claims was their effort to reconcile the spouses and restore domestic peace. The qadis' at times had recourse to the welfare services of the State rather than to the institutionalized organs entrusted with the provision of maintenance to the wife and family in traditional society.
