Woman Between Islam and Western Society
6. The Rights of Husband and Wife
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think of the other’s good. In the latter case, one’s
attention is fixed on one’s responsibilities, while in
the former it is on one’s rights. The latter leads one to
a higher moral plane while the former leads to evil.
When a man’s eyes are on his rights, he holds the
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.
