Liberating vulnerable wives from socio-legal bondage: An integrated ar riqab and BSK policy model for resolving unsettled maintenance claims

Abstract

When a husband deserts his family without a formal divorce or leaving maintenance (nafakah), the wife is left in a state of severe marital abandonment colloquially termed as "gantung tidak bertali". While the Family Support Division (BSK) of the Department of Syariah Judiciary Malaysia possesses extensive statutory powers to execute asset seizures and salary deductions against delinquent spouses, these mechanisms are strictly reactive. They cannot be legally triggered until the wife independently obtains an initial formal judgment decree from the Syariah Court. However, prohibitive upfront litigation tariffs systemically lock low-income women out of the judicial system, creating an intense structural "liquidity paradox" where they remain asset-rich on paper through marital claims but completely destitute in daily reality. Adopting a qualitative methodology grounded in doctrinal legal analysis and empirical case-scenario paradigms, this study reviews Shariah Family Law provisions, evaluates state-level zakat enactments, and synthesizes operational data from BSK. The analysis establishes that financial barriers directly impede judicial execution, thereby subverting the Maqasid al-Shariah principles of safeguarding life, lineage, and wealth for vulnerable dependents. To bridge this operational chasm, this paper proposes a pioneering framework utilizing the Asnaf Ar-Riqab zakat distribution channel as a front-end financial catalyst. The resulting model introduces a three-tiered mechanism encompassing dynamic eligibility filtering, closed-loop direct voucher disbursement for upfront litigation fees, and post-resolution asset recovery with a strategic fund clawback provision to ensure financial sustainability.