Thoughts on the splitting of marital assets. It seems to me that Muslims in the West are creating an injustice in their current approach to the issue. They expect a homemaker in the traditional Western sense and expect financial divisions in the classical Islamic model.
A thread

Many are opposed to Wests laws of marital asset division, going so far as to avoid legal marriages (which causes issues inheritance,pension, medical decisions/ insurance, obtaining family visas etc). In effect they reject notion of a family unit that both spouses contribute to

But in reality when it comes to marital expectations, they uphold ideals of a family UNIT under the traditional western homemaker model, that is the man goes out and works, woman stays home to cook, clean and raise children, the family UNIT thrives and amasses wealth.

A woman can stay home supporting her husband and his career ambitions, budgeting & running the household economically, adding to his savings but even if they were to become millionaires, at the moment of divorce the woman could be penniless. There is no recognition for her role.

In the breakdown of marriage, and if the man is the one whose name is on the property and other wealth, suddenly the women is viewed by the husband and community as having contributed nothing to these assets, and deserving of none of it.

There are also women who contribute directly to their husbands careers/business endeavours (i.e. cooking in their husbands restaurants) who leave all money in their husbands name because he is the head of the household.

Or the many women who transfer all money they receive from the government to their husbands bc he is the head of the household (child support payments, money they receive for being single moms because their marriages are not registered etc) This transfer of money is very common.

All this increases a mans savings, and the family wealth, and yet upon divorce, women are told they are not entitled to any of it, or else they are stealing. And if their marriage is not registered, they are legally not entitled to any of it.

How to resolve this?
Women should be made aware of how the Islamic family unit differs from the West's model and what the implications are. Especially when it comes to transferring incomes or not taking salary for work. Their husband is increasing in wealth while they are not.

This is a sensitive topic bc people are very touchy about money and women asserting themselves is considered stingy and greedy. But avoiding it opens the door for injustice.

The wife can ask for hired domestic help, then freeing her time to create her own wealth. Another option is to ask for compensation for domestic labour if husband is financially able to do this (he is accumulating savings). In reality both these options are socially unrealistic.

So it might be easiest and less distasteful, for the couple to agree to split marital assets and household items in the case of divorce (and also death), in a mutually agreed upon manner/

But none of these options are available if women are left naive or unreflective of the cold facts of what their community believes is their financial entitlements to the family unit they sustained, once it is broken. That is, almost none of it.