The Legitimacy of a Wife's Heirs Claiming Compensation for Domestic Labor During Marriage: A Fiqhi Analysis with a Review of Judicial Opinions

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Level 4 graduate and professor at Qom Seminary and PhD student in Jurisprudence and Fundamentals of Islamic Law, Qom University, Qom,

2 Graduate of the fourth level of Qom Seminary, Qom, Iran

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Theology and Islamic Studies, Farhangian University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Pursuant to the Note under Article 336 of the Iranian Civil Code, a wife is entitled to compensation for domestic labor (ujrat al-mithl) for tasks she performed at her husband's behest, which she was not religiously obligated to perform, and for which custom recognizes a wage, provided she did not perform them with the intent of gratuitous service. A subsequent legal question arises when, following the wife's death, her heirs seek to claim this compensation for the labor performed during the deceased's marital life. This article's primary research question is the fiqhi legitimacy of such a claim by the wife's heirs. Utilizing a library-based methodology and adopting a descriptive-analytical approach, this study concludes that no valid fiqhi evidence supports the legitimacy of the heirs' claim for this specific compensation. While, in principle, a claim to a right is transferable to heirs upon death, the foundational premise of the right itself is rejected in the case at hand. Juridical principles such as the "Rule of Respect" (Qāʿidat al-Iḥtirām) and the "Presumption of Non-Gratuitousness" (Aṣl al-ʿAdam al-Tabarruʿ) are only applicable when the claim is made by the original right-holder herself, not by her heirs. Conversely, to refute the legitimacy of the heirs' claim, a re-examination of the conditions for entitlement - such as the husband's direct instruction or permission for the labor - proves decisive. These conditions cannot be substantiated when the claim is initiated by the heirs. Further jurisprudential evidence, including the "Rule of Preponderance" (Qāʿidat al-Ghalaba) and the "Primacy of Appearances over the Original Principle" (Taqdim al-Ẓāhir ʿalā al-Aṣl), is advanced to support the illegitimacy of the claim, as detailed in the main text. Beyond providing a fiqhi answer to the primary question, this article aims to offer a specific interpretation of the Note under Article 336 of the Iranian Civil Code to facilitate consistent judicial rulings and preserve legal uniformity.

Highlights

**Conclusion**

In accordance with the note appended to Article 336 of the Iranian Civil Code, a wife is entitled to a wage equivalent (*ujrat al-mithl*) for tasks which are not her religious (*shar'an*) obligation and for which a customary wage is recognized, provided she performed them at her husband's behest and without the intention of gratuitous service (*tabarru'*). However, following the wife's demise, her heirs cannot file a claim against the husband demanding the wage equivalent for the period of the deceased wife's marriage. This conclusion is not based on a distinction between claiming a right during one's lifetime versus after death, nor on the non-transferability of the right to heirs. Rather, it is derived from specific legal and jurisprudential proofs.

Although arguments have been advanced to legitimize the claim for a wage equivalent by the heirs—such as the principle of respect for property (*qā'idat iḥtirām*), the presumption against gratuitous service (*aṣl ʿadam al-tabarru'*), the entitlement to claim rights both during life and after death, and the judicial extension of the entitlement to a wage equivalent to contexts beyond divorce—a detailed examination and analysis of their implications reveal that these proofs are specific to a claim filed by the wife herself. The linkage (*ināṭah*) of the liability arising from honoring the wife's act performed at the husband's request or with his permission to the *husband*, the fundamental difference between the family unit and spousal relations on one hand, and ordinary employer-employee or lessor-lessee contractual relations on the other, the possibility of the specific subject matter falling outside the scope of the presumption against gratuitous service—especially its conflict with the apparent state (*ẓāhir al-ḥāl*) of life in Iranian families—and the restriction of the equivalence between life and death in claiming rights to claims made by the right-holder *personally*, all render these proofs incomplete for the heirs' claim. Consequently, no substantiated proof was found to legitimize a claim for the wage equivalent of the marital period by the heirs of the deceased wife.

Conversely, multiple proofs have been presented to reject the legitimacy of such a claim. The cornerstone of these proofs is a re-examination of the conditions for entitlement to the wage equivalent for the marital period, conditions which cannot be established when the claim is filed by the heirs. Beyond relying on the implied condition (*mafhūm*) that entitlement to the wage is contingent upon divorce, proofs such as the principle of preponderance (*qā'idat ghalbah*) and the priority of apparent circumstances over foundational presumptions (*taqdim al-ẓāhir ʿalā al-aṣl*) decisively establish the illegitimacy of such a claim.

Keywords

References

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History

  • Receive Date: 12 April 2025
  • Revise Date: 17 July 2025
  • Accept Date: 24 December 2025

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