IDEAL UNION

Once a couple is bonded through Nikah, they are unified for life. This is the ideal that both parties should make effort to realise as marriage is not a flirtation of a day or two. It is done for eternity. To realise this ideal, each one should make a small concession. Each one must not just demand his right. All types of destruction in the world stem from this attitude. People have become selfish. Everyone is concerned about his own self. Everyone is demanding his right. No one dares to think about his own responsibility towards others. Therefore, in a marriage life, each one should assume his responsibility at the offset. Each one should know and fulfil his duty towards his partner before demanding or claiming his right.

In this case, it could well be that no one will find the need to claim his right. Each one will receive his right without demanding. Nonetheless, it is very important for each one to know his duty and responsibility in order to assume his responsibility better.

Responsibility of a husband

A husband must take good care of his wife. To take good care means to look after her in a way that guarantees her well-being. The well-being of a woman lies in having her basic necessities – mainly food, drink, clothes and an appropriate place to live. She must get all this with dignity and respect. And besides this, what is more required is affection and love from her husband.

Responsibility of a wife

A wife must obey her husband in everything that the Shari’ah authorises without disrespecting him. She should give him the value of a husband. According to a Hadith, if a person had the right to do Sajdah for anyone besides Allah Ta’ala, then a woman would have had to do Sajdah for her husband.

A woman should not leave her house without the permission of her husband. She should always keep her honour and chastity. She must manage the house of her husband and his possessions with honesty and sincerity.

[English version of "Union ideale" – Al Jamiat – Vol.1 No.9]