Short answer
No. In the Hanafi school a wife has the right to private accommodation of her own, at least a lockable room with her own facilities, free from her in-laws, according to the husband's means. She is not legally bound to serve his parents, though kindness to them is a virtue and a great reward. The husband must care for his parents himself.
Separate housing (sukna) is part of the wife's nafaqah. At a minimum she is owed a private, lockable part of the house with her own kitchen and toilet where his relatives do not enter without leave; for a wealthier family, a separate home. Serving the in-laws is not wajib on her, but it is good character when done willingly.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
Allah says: "Lodge them where you dwell out of your means and do not harm them" (65:6). The Hanafi jurists explain that this housing must be private, so that the wife can be at ease, keep her belongings and live with her husband without others watching. If she agrees to live in a joint family, that is her choice, and she may later ask for her own space.
Rights and duties on each side:
- The husband must serve and support his own parents if they need it. That duty is his, and he cannot hand it over to his wife as an obligation.
- The wife should treat her in-laws with respect, like her own elders. Helping them is ihsan (excellence), and it builds a loving family, but it is not a legal duty.
- The in-laws should treat their son's wife as a daughter and not interfere in the couple's private life.
- Modesty: her father-in-law is her mahram, but her brothers-in-law are not. The Prophet ﷺ called the husband's brother "death", warning against casual privacy and mixing with him. She keeps hijab in front of them.
Living together in a joint family can work well with goodwill. Problems come when rights are ignored. If there is tension, talk calmly, involve wise elders, and remember that a husband who neglects either his parents or his wife will answer for it. See rights of the wife and rights of parents.
The evidence
Quran, Surah At-Talaaq 65:6
أَسْكِنُوهُنَّ مِنْ حَيْثُ سَكَنتُم مِّن وُجْدِكُمْ وَلَا تُضَآرُّوهُنَّ لِتُضَيِّقُوا۟ عَلَيْهِنَّ ۚ وَإِن كُنَّ أُو۟لَٰتِ حَمْلٍۢ فَأَنفِقُوا۟ عَلَيْهِنَّ حَتَّىٰ يَضَعْنَ حَمْلَهُنَّ ۚ فَإِنْ أَرْضَعْنَ لَكُمْ فَـَٔاتُوهُنَّ أُجُورَهُنَّ ۖ وَأْتَمِرُوا۟ بَيْنَكُم بِمَعْرُوفٍۢ ۖ وَإِن تَعَاسَرْتُمْ فَسَتُرْضِعُ لَهُۥٓ أُخْرَىٰ ﴿٦﴾
Lodge them [in a section] of where you dwell out of your means and do not harm them in order to oppress them. And if they should be pregnant, then spend on them until they give birth. And if they breastfeed for you, then give them their payment and confer among yourselves in the acceptable way; but if you are in discord, then there may breastfeed for the father another woman.
Housing is owed to the wife, without harm.
Quran, Surah An-Noor 24:31
وَقُل لِّلْمُؤْمِنَٰتِ يَغْضُضْنَ مِنْ أَبْصَٰرِهِنَّ وَيَحْفَظْنَ فُرُوجَهُنَّ وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا ۖ وَلْيَضْرِبْنَ بِخُمُرِهِنَّ عَلَىٰ جُيُوبِهِنَّ ۖ وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا لِبُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ ءَابَآئِهِنَّ أَوْ ءَابَآءِ بُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ أَبْنَآئِهِنَّ أَوْ أَبْنَآءِ بُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ إِخْوَٰنِهِنَّ أَوْ بَنِىٓ إِخْوَٰنِهِنَّ أَوْ بَنِىٓ أَخَوَٰتِهِنَّ أَوْ نِسَآئِهِنَّ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَٰنُهُنَّ أَوِ ٱلتَّٰبِعِينَ غَيْرِ أُو۟لِى ٱلْإِرْبَةِ مِنَ ٱلرِّجَالِ أَوِ ٱلطِّفْلِ ٱلَّذِينَ لَمْ يَظْهَرُوا۟ عَلَىٰ عَوْرَٰتِ ٱلنِّسَآءِ ۖ وَلَا يَضْرِبْنَ بِأَرْجُلِهِنَّ لِيُعْلَمَ مَا يُخْفِينَ مِن زِينَتِهِنَّ ۚ وَتُوبُوٓا۟ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ جَمِيعًا أَيُّهَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ ﴿٣١﴾
And tell the believing women to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts and not expose their adornment except that which [necessarily] appears thereof and to wrap [a portion of] their headcovers over their chests and not expose their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers, their brothers' sons, their sisters' sons, their women, that which their right hands possess, or those male attendants having no physical desire, or children who are not yet aware of the private aspects of women. And let them not stamp their feet to make known what they conceal of their adornment. And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed.
The father-in-law is among those a woman need not cover from, but brothers-in-law are not listed.
Sahih al-Bukhari 5232
Sahih... إياكم والدخول على النساء ...
"Beware of entering upon women. A man asked about the husband's relatives, and he said: the in-law is death."
The wife keeps modesty with her husband's brothers and male relatives.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Durr al-Mukhtar with Radd al-Muhtar, Bab al-Nafaqah, on housing (al-sukna). The wife is owed a home free of his relatives, at least a private room with its own facilities, by his means.
- al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, Kitab al-Talaq, Bab al-Nafaqat, on housing. She may refuse to live with his relatives.
This answer is pending review by the scholars on our team. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.