In Malaysia, the law recognizes claims of jointly acquired property of spouse due to divorce, polygamy or death. For example, Section 122 of the Islamic Family Law Enactment (State of Kedah Darul Aman) 2008, clearly provides for the jurisdiction of Court’s injunction in the division of jointly acquired property. There is a disagreement among Muslim Jurists related to assets to the working wives throughout her marriage in terms of its status as a private property or jointly acquired property. However problems arise when there are situations where the vast majority of domestic contributions are attributed to the property of the wife. These contributions can be seen beginning from the purchase of house, car and upbringing costs of children which are part of wife’s obligations. Therefore, the objective of this study is to identify the classification of assets of the working spouse as a jointly acquired property that is entitled to be claimed by the husband from Islamic perspective and subsequently analyze the custom recognition on it. This study is a qualitative study in which data is collected through studies from Islamic law scriptures and legal sources. Meanwhile, data analysis is carried out using content analysis methods through a descriptive approach. The findings proved that the custom recognized the classification of property of a wife to be accepted as a jointly acquired property. However for working wives who have incurred all additional needs, their property is classified as property that cannot be claimed by the husband in full. This study hopefully will contribute to the parties involved in jointly acquired property claims such as legislators and law practitioners to assess the classification of property working spouse as jointly acquired property that can be claimed by the husband.
Abstrak
Di Malaysia, undang-undang mengiktiraf tuntutan harta sepencarian atas faktor perceraian, poligami atau kematian. Sebagai contoh, seksyen 122, Enakmen Undang-Undang Keluarga Islam (Negeri Kedah Darul Aman) 2008, jelas memperuntukkan berkenaan bidangkuasa Mahkamah dalam memerintah pembahagian harta sepencarian. Terdapat khilaf dalam kalangan para fuqaha’ berkaitan harta milik isteri berpekerjaan sepanjang perkahwinan dari aspek statusnya sebagai harta persendirian atau harta sepencarian. Namun, timbul masalah apabila terdapat situasi di mana sebahagian besar sumbangan rumahtangga adalah berpunca daripada harta isteri. Sumbangan ini dapat dilihat bermula daripada pembelian rumah, kereta, kos asuhan anak-anak yang menjadi sebahagian daripada tanggungan isteri. Justeru itu, objektif kajian ini adalah untuk mengenalpasti pengklasifikasian harta isteri berpekerjaan sebagai harta sepencarian yang berhak dituntut oleh suami dari perspektif syarak, dan seterusnya menganalisis pengiktifaran ‘Urf ke atasnya. Kajian ini adalah kajian kualitatif di mana data kajian dikumpul melalui kajian kepustakaan daripada kitab-kitab fiqh islami dan sumber undang-undang. Sementara itu, analisis data dilakukan menggunakan kaedah analisis kandungan melalui pendekatan deskriptif. Hasil kajian membuktikan bahawa ‘Urf mengiktiraf pengklasifikasian harta isteri berpekerjaan sebagai harta sepencarian. Walau bagaimanapun, bagi isteri yang berkerjaya dan telah menanggung segala keperluan tambahan, harta mereka diklasifikasikan sebagai harta yang tidak boleh dituntut oleh suami dalam harta sepencarian. Kajian ini dapat memberi sumbangan kepada pihak-pihak yang terlibat dalam tuntutan harta sepencarian seperti penggubal undang-undang dan institusi-institusi mahkamah untuk menilai pengklasifikasian harta isteri berpekerjaan sebagai harta sepencarian yang boleh dituntut oleh suami.
Jointly acquired property of a working wife: A legal analysis from 'Urf perspective
