Woman in Islamic Shari‘ah
6. The Rights of Husband and Wife
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other party responsible for everything. As a result,
he is always in a frustrated state and wants to
revenge himself on the other party. Failing to do his
duty himself, he merely wants the other party to
keep giving him all that is due to him.
Conversely, when one’s eyes are on one’s own
responsibilities, one’s critical faculties are focussed
on oneself. One is keen to know one’s own
shortcomings. As a result, the psychology of self-
reckoning is aroused and one becomes serious-
minded. All one’s strength is diverted from
destruction to construction. Such action makes the
other party serious too, so that he feels compelled to
fulfill his responsibilities in like manner.
This is the Islamic way. If one party is weaker, Islam
enjoins him to remain patient, while exhorting the
other party, the stronger, to tread the path of justice
and fair play.
The guidance of Islam regarding the relationship
between husband and wife, is, in some respects,
based on this principle. From the physiological
standpoint, the woman is the weaker and the man
the stronger party. That is why in its guidelines
