Fathwa, - Imprisoned husband is obliged to provide for hiswife and child

Question
In Islam, imprisonment ofhusband, is he liable to pay maintenance of
childand wife?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify
that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad,
is His Slave and Messenger.
It is obligatory upon the husband to spend on his wife and child. This
ruling applies to the imprisoned husband like other husbands. If he
cannot afford to spend on them, then he is like all other husbands,
i.e. his wife has the right to raise the matter to an Islamic judge
and seek separation from him due to that, and if she wants to be
patient with him, then she can do so.Ibn Qudaamahsaid: "In conclusion,
if a man does not spend on his wife for him being insolvent and cannot
find what he may spend on her, then the wife has a choice between
being patient with him or separating from him." ]End quote[
Shaykh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyahsaid: "If the wife is adversely affected
by her husband's failing to have intercourse with her, thispermits
annulment of themarriage in all cases, whether the husband didthat
deliberately or not, or whether he was able to have intercourse or
not. The same applies to the wife's maintenance, and it is permissible
with greater reason to annul the marriage in case of Eelaa')a husband
swearing not to have sexual intercourse with his wife and refusing to
approach her(according to the consensus of scholars. Accordingly, the
ruling of the captive and the imprisoned and thosewhose wives cannot
benefit from them, if their wives seek separation from them, is the
same like the ruling of the wife of the missinghusband according to
theconsensus of the scholars." ]End quote[
There is another issue stated by the Shaafi'i scholars, that is if the
wife was the reason behind the imprisonmentof her husband without
aright cause, then she will have no right to maintenance. Tuhfat
Al-Habeeb 'Ala Sharh Al-Khateeb )a Shaafi'i book( reads: "If the wife
is the reason for the imprisonment of her husband with a right cause,
then she will have the right upon her husband )if possible( to spend
the night with her like with his other wives and to maintenance, and
if it was with no right cause, then she will not deserve such rights
because she is the reasonbehind preventing them." ]End quote[
This is related to the maintenance of the wife when the husband cannot
afford to spend on her.
As for spending on the child, then if the husbandis insolvent and the
mother can afford it, she should spend on her child and she has the
right to ask the husband to compensate her for what she has spent
whenhe becomes solvent. Fat-hAl-Qadeer )a Hanafi book( reads: "If the
child has a rich mother, then she should spend on him;however, she has
the right to ask him )the insolvent father( later to compensate her
for that. If she is pleased with thatand does not ask him to
compensate her, she will surely be rewarded for that and it is
actually of her good character and noble manners." ]End quote[
Allaah Knows best.