Mata' (household goods): their ownership between spouses, the cargo jettison, and the mosque

المَتَاع

Mata', in lexicon, is the name for anything that gives benefit, covering the pilgrimage enjoyment, the divorce gift, and whatever a person uses for his needs; in technical use it is any goods of this world that are of benefit ¹. A husband must supply his wife with household goods, utensils for eating, drinking, cooking and sleeping, as part of the maintenance due to her ¹. When spouses or their heirs dispute such goods, possession is a presumption, and the owner swears when there is no stronger proof; what suits men goes to the husband and what suits women to the wife; what suits both goes to the man in the Hanafi and Maliki view, is shared in the Hanbali view, and the Shafi'is have both swear ². If a man's wives dispute goods in one house, the women's goods are shared equally among them ³. Clearing a sold property of another's goods is a condition of taking possession ³. Throwing cargo overboard when a ship is in danger of sinking is allowed, and required to save a free passenger; whoever throws another's goods without leave is liable ⁴. The Shafi'is and Hanbalis hold that no hadd for theft is applied to one who steals mosque furnishings made for public use, since the right of use is a doubt ⁴.