Equality between wives

Q: My friend offered for me to be his second wife. Before agreeing, I would like to know about the rights of a second wife. How does it differ from the rights of the first wife? He told me that he will not live with me and have more children with me because he already has three children. I'm very young and I also want to build a full-fledged family by have children and that my husband could be with me and support me. He lives very far from me, and if we make nikah, it will not change anything. He will still live with his first wife and does not want to have more children.

So I wanted to ask you, what is the difference between the rights of the second wife from the first wife? Can he live far from me and see me only 1-2 times a week for only 1-2 hours, is it correct?

Husband expecting the wife to work

Q: My husband believes that because I’m from Europe, not an Arab and a Muslim convert I should be working. We moved to Europe recently from the Middle East and my husband told me “survive by yourself”, meaning he would not pay any longer for my extras like clothes, cosmetics, books, etc. It hurt me deeply and since then I never asked him for anything. He said sorry but after that I’m not able to accept any money from him and I refused anything he wishes to buy for me. I answer by “God bless you for offering but no thank you”. I really feel terrible to accept anything from him and at the same time I do not work which makes me feel sad.

When will one be eligible for zakaat?

Q: I am self employed. My business has been struggling for the past 7 months. I have not been able to meet my commitments by paying my suppliers who have now stopped my account. I am not able to provide for my family the way I used to. Allhamdullilah I have been able to provide food with the mercy of Allah. I know I can turn my business around with some financial help. I place my faith and trust in Allah.

My question is that when I ask for financial help, my fellow brothers want to offer me Zakaat. I am shocked, confused and don't know if I am a Zakaat candidate. Alhamdulillah I have everything besides money and no business. I am in big debt as well. Do I qualify for Zakaat, as I am not comfortable with it. I have to consider my family as well.

Distributing inheritance

Q: I've been mandated by the family to be their General Power of Attorney in the handling of the properties of our late father. The property in question is in Pakistan. My late brother, an heir, was a resident in the UK. I requested documents from his siblings in the UK, namely a General Power of Attorney, which they obliged with. However, the documents needed to be attested with the Foreign Office and the Pakistani Embassy in the UK. They have had the documents attested, but now they are refusing to send the documents back to me. Regrettably I've sent a letter of demand/return of documents to them, with no success. What should I do?