Question Summary:
Is there any Hadeeth proving the wife’s right to live in a separate home?

Question Detail:

Is there any Hadeeth indicating the wife’s right to stay in an individual house with the husband and not that of the husband’s family?

Answer :

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. 
As-salāmu `alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
1. In principle, it is necessary for one to provide residence/shelter for one’s wife.[1]
2. It is necessary for one to provide a completely separate home for one’s wife, if both the spouses can afford to do so.[2] 
3. It is necessary for one to at least provide a completely separate room for one’s wife, if one cannot afford to provide a separate home for one’s wife. [3]
4. The room maybe in the home of one’s in-laws as long as one’s in-laws do not have free unhindered access to the room, no laws of the Shariah are violated and one’s wife is not harmed by staying in her in-law’s home.[4]                                                         
6. There is no mention in the Hadeeth regarding the issue in question. However, the rulings of the Fuqahaa/jurists serve as sufficient basis for the above mentioned injunctions.
7. Mutual understanding between the spouses should be employed when dealing with such sensitive issues. 
And Allah knows best.
Mawlana Ismail Desai,
Durban, South Africa
Student Darul Iftaa
 
Checked and Approved 
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
daruliftaa.net