Is spending on a defiantly disobedient wife obligatory if she is pregnant?
Question

                My wife went out of my house without my permission and went to her family’s house. She has been there for a few months and is pregnant. Am I obliged to spend on her during her pregnancy?
Praise be to Allah.
    Firstly: 

    It is not permissible for a woman to go out of her husband’s 
    house without his permission. If she does that then she is nashiz 
    (defiantly disobedient) and she has no right to maintenance until she comes 
    back to obeying her husband. 

    But it is essential to know the reason why she has gone for 
    this long a time. She may have done that to flee from a husband who was 
    mistreating her or beating her or abusing her and so on. In that case the 
    shortcoming and transgression were on his part, not hers. 

    Secondly: 

    If a woman defiantly disobeys her husband when she is 
    pregnant, is the husband obliged to maintain her during the pregnancy or 
    not? There is a difference of opinion among the fuqaha (jurists) concerning this 
    matter, which is based on their difference of opinion as to whether the 
    maintenance during the pregnancy is for the infant or the mother. The 
    majority of scholars are of the view that a pregnant wife who is defiantly 
    disobedient is entitled to maintenance. This is the view of the Malikis and 
    Hanbalis, and is one view of the Shaafi’is. 

    Ibn Qudamah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Is 
    maintenance due to the pregnant woman for the sake of the infant or is it 
    due to the infant? There are two views, one of which is that it is due to 
    the infant. This was the view favoured by Abu Bakr, because it is due owing 
    to the existence of the infant, and ceases to be due when he is weaned. This 
    indicates that it is for him (the infant). The second view is that it is due 
    to her (the mother) because of him (the infant), because it is obligatory 
    whether the man is well off or hard up, so it is like maintenance of wives; 
    and because it is not waived with the passage of time, so it is like the 
    maintenance of the woman so long as the infant is still alive. 

    Al-Shaafi’i had two views, like those mentioned above, and 
    many other issues are based on these differences, such as: … If a man’s wife 
    is defiantly disobedient, and she is pregnant, and we say that maintenance 
    is due to the infant, then her maintenance is not waived, because the 
    maintenance of the infant is not waived because of his mother’s defiant 
    disobedience. But if we say that maintenance is due to her, then there is no 
    maintenance for her (in this case), because of her defiant disobedience. End 
    quote from al-Mughni (8/187), 

    It says in Matalib Ooli al-Nuha (5/627): Maintenance 
    spent on the mother is due to the infant himself; it is not due to her 
    because of him, because it is due because of his existence, and it is waived 
    if he is no longer there. So it is obligatory to spend on a pregnant wife 
    who is defiantly disobedient, because the maintenance is for the infant, and 
    it cannot be waived because of the mother’s defiant disobedience. End 
    quote. 

    Ash-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: 
    There is a difference of opinion concerning this issue among the fuqaha. 
    Some of them say that maintenance is due to the mother because of the 
    infant. 

    Some say that maintenance is due to the child and not to the 
    mother because of him. This second view is more correct, but because we have 
    no way of making the maintenance reach the infant except by nourishing the 
    mother, then maintenance must be given to the mother because of the infant. 

    Based on this difference, if the wife is defiantly 
    disobedient when she is pregnant, is she entitled to maintenance? 

    If we say that maintenance is due to the infant [which is the 
    more correct view, as stated above], then maintenance is due to her, because 
    the infant is not being defiantly disobedient. But if we say that 
    maintenance is due to her, then her maintenance is waived, because she is 
    defiantly disobedient. End quote from al-Sharh al-Mumti’ (13/470). 

    Based on that, then spending on the infant is obligatory for 
    the father, even if his mother is defiantly disobedient. 

    If they dispute about the amount of maintenance, then the 
    case should be referred to the qadi (judge), so that he may resolve the 
    dispute justly, as he sees fit. 

    May Allah help us all to do that which He loves and which 
    pleases Him. 

    And Allah knows best.