Question:
A video in Urdu has been circulating stating that a wife’s duty toward her husband is so great that even if her husband was covered from head to toe with sores and she licked them clean, she would still not have fulfilled her duty. Is this authentic?
Answer:
This is a fabricated and false narration. It is found in Musnad Ahmad and other collections, but scholars like Al-Albani have declared it extremely weak. Even without examining the chain of narrators, the content itself is repugnant to Islamic values.
A wife has duties towards her husband, right? She will never fulfill them; you cannot fulfill them completely. A wife is so duty-bound to her husband. To what extent is she duty-bound? If asked, suppose the husband has boils from head to toe, from head to foot, wherever you look there are boils. From head to foot, wherever you look, there are boils.
These boils are oozing pus and fluid. At that time, suppose this wife licks the entire body with her tongue and cleans that pus and fluid. Even if she does that, she will not fulfill the husband’s right. That is, the wife, even if the husband has pus and fluid, that impurity, what should she do? Should she lick it with her tongue? Even if she cleans it by licking with her tongue, this is not enough for the duty towards the husband. Even if she does this, you will not be considered as having done something for the husband. So says that speaker in that Urdu bayan. There is no fault in him saying this.
Why is there no fault? If you ask, this Alim Sha is speaking about all those Alim Shas, even the Alim Shas of that time. What are all of them like? They viewed women in a slave-like manner. These kinds of fabricated stories, it’s clear this is a fabricated story. This story he mentioned exists. These so-called great scholars, all the nonsense spoken by great scholars, what have they done?
They claim these narrations are correct. If you ask, it seems they do not respect wives. If a wife is to respect us, then only if we accept such fabricated nonsense will there be respect in our family. Only someone who expects that can say such things. So, if you ask where this narration exists, it is in Musnad Ahmad. This same narration is in Nasa’i al-Kubra, in Abu Nu’aym’s Hilyat al-Awliya, in the book Mukhtasar, in Layl al-Mukhtar? It is in there. Similarly, it is in Hakim, in Bazzaar, in Ibn Abi Shaybah’s Musannaf. Al-Albani, regarding this hadith, Al-Albani says this is a severely weak (da’if jiddan) hadith. Why?
Just look at this concept. Is there impurity, is there najasah or not? Is pus and fluid impure in Islam? If impurity touches you, you must wash it to pray, right? They are telling you to lick it with your tongue. If the husband has pus, you must clean it by licking it with your tongue. Even if you do that, his right is not fulfilled. This is blatantly a fabricated story, a concoction of deceit. Even if there are people who say this is good, there’s no need to even look at the narrators. These great Imams of the madhabs, they all claim it’s authentic (sahih). Look at the concept.
First, in your madhab, is this impurity or purity? Can she drink her husband’s urine? They would say no. Why? This is pus and fluid, which is worse than urine, right? So, just as feces is impure, similarly, pus and fluid is an impurity. If a wife acts as a nurse for her husband, if it was said that the husband and wife should act as nurses for each other, applying bandages, wiping, washing, cleaning, that would be service. It should be said for both sides, not one-sided. If the wife is in such a condition, and the husband cleans and purifies her, if that action is done, it is acceptable. What should be done between the husband and wife relationship?
If one is unable, if the husband is bedridden and has relieved himself, someone must clean him. The wife should do it. If the wife is in that state, the husband should do it. They can attend to each other’s private matters. So, if such matters are mentioned, it comes under humanity. No one would say it’s wrong.
Would they tell someone to lick if their husband has defecated and is lying down? Would Prophetﷺ have said that? Does it come in the Prophetﷺ’s words? What is in the Prophetﷺ ‘s words? It says: From his head to his foot, from his foot to his head, he has blisters, oozing with pus and fluid. Then what does the wife do? She goes to him and licks him. Even if she licks, she will not fulfill the husband’s right. What is this? When you see this, why? Haven’t you studied the rulings regarding purity and impurity in hadiths?
Have you not studied? They say this is correct. Thinking has become paralyzed. Why? Only if the wife is told such things will she be a slave to her husband. Because of this mentality that a wife must be a slave to her husband, so much bad reputation arises today. Scholars say that whatever fabricated story comes, even if they are okay with it… Who has examined these hadiths? When I saw it was against Islam, I realized. You ask by searching using technology. If you search, could this be the word of the Prophetﷺ ? Would the Prophetﷺ say something like this?
Look, if you didn’t understand, they ask. If you search using ChatGPT, DeepSeek, if you ask, “Could the Prophetﷺ have said this?” Doesn’t it become clear to you that this is a fabricated story? The rights and duties between husband and wife that the Prophetﷺ established, to say something like this about them seems like the work of some conspirator.
If you use technology to examine it, even if it’s not a human, but artificial intelligence, it understands. But the one with the original intellect does not understand. The one with natural intelligence does not understand, but artificial intelligence understands that this is nonsense, this is false. So, why do you think wives should be treated like this? Why do you think like this? For this, you look at the narrators and years. Which book is it in? Even if it’s in Bukhari, look and say, “What is this?”
In Islam, would anyone tell you to lick something with your tongue? Would anyone tell you to lick pus and fluid? Would anyone say that? Even for their own child, would a mother lick? If a child’s whole body has pus and fluid, they would clean it using proper cleaning methods, not the tongue. Why would they use the tongue for that? If they clean it with a piece of cotton, pour water and wash and clean, that can be accepted.
How disgracefully they degrade women here? This speaker speaks like this in Urdu. How many have spoken like this in Tamil and corrupted people, we don’t know. So, what do they do? Al-Albani said it’s authentic, right? These Salafi groups all say it’s sahih. Many say it’s a sahih hadith. Is this sahih? Don’t you think about the concept itself? Therefore, very few people have rejected this.
Some have rejected it, but why did those few reject it? They rejected it citing some flaws in the narrators, not by saying the concept is wrong. Don’t you know how dangerous this concept is? How can this be in Islam? That is, just as there are duties and rights for men, there are also duties and rights for women.
What does Allahﷻ say in the Quran? Men have a degree of responsibility over them because they manage affairs. But otherwise, seeking consent, not harming her, not beating her, not oppressing her with divorce, even if divorced, providing maintenance in a good manner. In many such matters, Islam has provided a wonderful way of life for women.
From granting property rights to women, who were treated like wild animals,Islam restored everything, saying do not marry her without her consent. If you take many such things, in this religion of Allahﷻ, which gave such wonderful advice, there is this thing about pus and fluid. In the Quran, pus and fluid are the food of the people of Hell. Allahﷻ says that will be their food. Should one lick what is described as the food of the people of Hell?
Don’t they even think about that? So, this is blatant fabricated nonsense, a false fabricated story. It exists in hadith books. I read it in so many books. Now, if it’s in Hakim, he puts that hadith and says it’s authentic according to the conditions of Bukhari and Muslim. Everyone says this hadith is authentic because they only look at the narrators; we will not look only at the narrators, we will also look at the content. What is this concept? Is this matter correct? You are saying such a thing about a wife. I ask these scholars who authenticate it: If this happened to your daughter, would you tell her to lick her husband? Would you?
Regarding a wife, your daughter will be a wife to someone. Would you talk about these rights? You wouldn’t. You want to keep a wife as a slave, not speak against her, not question justice. Is there such an extent to duties? Look, treat the husband like a god? What is the difference between this and the polytheists who worship idols and pray for rain? They teach to consider and respect him like a god.
This is above that. One wouldn’t even go and lick a god. So, this is a wrong report.
Islam teaches mutual respect, kindness, and compassion between spouses. The Prophetﷺ said: “The best of you are those who are best to their wives.” This narration contradicts the spirit of Islam. It degrades women and portrays marriage as a relationship of servitude rather than mutual love and mercy.
Furthermore, the narration speaks of licking impurities, which is absurd. Impurities must be washed away with water, not licked. Such narrations were fabricated by those who sought to demean women. No Muslim should accept or circulate such material. True Islamic teachings honor women and uphold the dignity of the marital relationship.