Woman in Islamic Shari‘ah
6. The Rights of Husband and Wife
~ 121 ~
6. THE RIGHTS OF HUSBAND AND
WIFE
THE QUR’AN states: “They (women) are your
garments. And you (men) are their garments.”
101
These words from the holy scriptures define how
men and women relate to each other — like body
and its garments. Without garments a body is
meaningless, and without a body, garments are
meaningless. The two must go together, for apart
they have little reason to exist. This symbolizes the
closeness of the two sexes in the material and
spiritual senses.
How beautiful a bird appears with its feathers, but
if all the feathers are to be removed, it would be
totally disfigured. The importance of the feather to
the bird is similar to the importance of the garment
to a man. A man without a garment is just like a
bird without its feathers.
This example of garments shows the great
importance men and women have for each other,
for, without each other, they are incomplete. They
are the closest of companions — a relationship
