If he divorces his pregnant wife as the result of khula’, who should bear the expenses of the birth?

 

If a couple separate by means of khula’ and the wife is pregnant, should the husband bear the expenses of the birth?.

Praise be to Allaah.

If a man divorces his wife as the result of
khula’ or he gives her a final talaaq, and she is pregnant, then he must
spend on her and on the child according to scholarly consensus; that
includes the expenses of the birth. 

Ibn Qudaamah (may Allaah have mercy on him)
said: If a man divorces his wife in an irrevocable divorce, which is either
a third talaaq or khula’, or an annulment of the marriage, and she is
pregnant, then she is entitled to maintenance and accommodation, according
to scholarly consensus, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Lodge them (the divorced women) where
you dwell, according to your means, and do not harm them so as to straiten
them (that they be obliged to leave your house). And if they are pregnant,
then spend on them till they lay down their burden”

[al-Talaaq 65:6] 

According to some reports about Faatimah
bint Qays: “You are not entitled to maintenance unless you are pregnant.”
Because the pregnancy is his child, so he is obliged to spend on it and he
cannot spend on him (the child) without spending on her (the mother), so it
becomes binding on him to spend on her too, and he must also pay her for
breastfeeding. End quote from al-Mughni (8/185). 

As the wife is pregnant, then she is
entitled to maintenance, unless she lets her husband off, such as if she
divorces him by khula’ on the basis that she will cover her own expenses
during pregnancy, or expenses during pregnancy until she gives birth, or
until the child is weaned. Ibn Qudaamah said: If a woman divorces her
husband by khula’ and lets him off paying her maintenance during her
pregnancy, she has no right to maintenance and neither does the child, until
he is weaned. But if she divorces him by khula’ and does not let him off
paying her maintenance during her pregnancy, then she is entitled to
maintenance, just as if he divorced her with a third talaaq when she was
pregnant, because the pregnancy is his child, and he must support it. End
quote from al-Mughni (8/188). 

Ends.