My Omani Outfit, and a Wife's Rights Over Husband (beyond financial)

Since alot of women read this blog, I thought I'd share an interesting article written by a Sheikh I just read on a woman's rights over her husband. Most sites say, yada yada yada, this is the husband's rights over his wife in a dispute, and mashaAllah, these things are wonderful to know, but many women tell me that we have no rights over our husbands in disputes and the like, beyond financial things. This is not so, ya Rub!!!!!!

But first, I'd like to share with ya'll, a pic of my Omani outfit. Yes, the hijab should cover the chest, but I wasn't going out of my home, LOL, so I didn't try to style it as neat as I could have. I am new to the whole "warqiya" (Omani tasselled shawl thing). A local (well, long-time expat) friend tried to show me how to do it, but she's a little less strict on the whole hijab thing than me, LOL.

What do you think? Boxie says I look like a green firefly, LOL, but my Omani friends were all super excited that I actually wore it (only once!). They were all like, but you are Canadian, you can get away without black abaya all the time...

Now to the article (note: I didn't write it):

Q: I have frequently read what, according to Islamic teachings, a husband may or may not do in a dispute with his wife if he attributes it to disagreement with or misbehavior of his wife. I almost never read anything about the opposite situation: if the wife has a disagreement with her husband or *he* misbehaves. Things are nearly always told from the man's point of view! What are the wife's rights in the case of bad behavior of her husband?

A: Praise belongs to Allah the Lord of all the worlds. Blessings and Peace on the Messenger of Allah, and on his Family and all his Companions.

Allah ordered the believers to "consort with women in kindness" (4:19) and He said: "And of His signs are this: He created for you helpmeets from yourselves that ye might find rest in them, and He ordained between you love and mercy. Lo, herein indeed are portents for folk who reflect" (30:21).

A Wife's Basic Rights Regarding Her Husband's Behavior

NOTE: This is distinct from her other rights regarding living expenditures, housing, clothing, and education of children. And from Allah comes all success.

1. The first and worthiest condition of marriage to be fulfilled by the husband is to "keep the promise or promises he made to the wife at the time he married her." This is an order of the Prophet [salla Allahu `alayhi wa alihi wa sallam, abbr. (s)] according to the hadith: "ahaqqu al-shuruti an tufu bihi ma astahlaltum bihi min al-furuj"

2. He cannot order her to do anything that is against religion. The Prophet (s) said: "No obedience is due to creatures in disobedience of the Creator" (la ta`atan li makhluqin fi ma`siyat al-khaliq).

3. He must exercise patience and be prepared to listen to her advice in every situation. The Prophet (s) listened to the advice of his wives in matters ranging from the smallest to the greatest.

4. If she invites him to wake up and perform the late night prayer, it is praiseworthy for him to do so and vice-versa. The Prophet (s) prayed for such people: "May Allah grant mercy to a man who gets up at night and prays, and wakes up his wife, and if she refuses, he sprinkles water in her face; may Allah grant mercy to a woman who gets up at night and prays, and wakes up her husband, and if he refuses, she sprinkles water in his face."

5. He must respect her and pay attention to her needs so that she will respect him and pay attention to his.

6. He must control his passions and act in a moderate manner especially in the context of sexual intercourse. Remember that Allah has placed between you and her "friendship and mercy" (mawadda wa rahma), not the gratification of your every lust; and that the Prophet (s) advised young men to marry "because it casts down the gaze and walls up the genitals," not in order to stimulate sexual passions. The husband should habitually seek refuge in Allah before approaching his wife and say: "O Allah, ward off the satan from us and ward him off from what you have bestowed upon us in the way of children" (allahumma jannibna al-shaytana wa jannibhu ma razaqtana). Allah has called each spouse a garment for the other (2:187), and the purpose of garments is decency. The Prophet (s) further said that he who marries for the sake of decency and modesty (`afaf), Allah has enjoined upon Himself to help him.

7. He must never ever divulge the secrets of the household and those of the married couple.

8. He must strive with sincerity to acquire her trust, and seek her welfare in all the actions that pertain to her.

9. He must treat her generously at all times. The Prophet (s) said that the best gift or charity (sadaqa) is that spent on one's wife.

10. If she works outside the house, it is praiseworthy for the husband to hire house help to relieve her from too heavy a burden. The wife's duties do not require her to feed her child, nor even to nurse it, nor to clean nor cook. It is the husband's duty to provide a nursemaid, food for older children, and servants to clean and cook. However, if the wife does those things out of mercy and love, it is a gift to the husband on her part.

11. He must avoid excessive jealousy and remember that Allah is also jealous that he himself not commit. The Prophet (s) said: "Do not be excessively jealous of your wife lest evil be hurled at her on your account" (la tukthir al-gheerata `ala ahlika fa turama bi al-su'i min ajlik) and he said: "Allah is jealous and the believer is jealous; and Allah's jealousy is that the believer should not go to that which Allah has forbidden for him" (inna Allaha yagharu wa al- mu'minu yagharu wa gheerat Allahi in ya'tiya al-mu'minu ma harrama `alayhi).

12. He must protect her honor and not place her in situations where it is compromised or belittled. The Prophet (s) said that Allah will not ever let him enter Paradise who cares little who shares his wife's privacy. This includes the husband's brother, uncle, and nephew, let alone non-related friends, neighbors, and complete strangers.

13. He must exercise patience and forgiveness in the case of disagreement or dispute, and not rush to divorce. The declaration of divorce is a grave matter indeed, and the Prophet (s) said: "Of permitted matters the most loathesome before Allah is divorce" (abgh`ad al-halal `ind Allah al-talaq). In another hadith he said that divorce is so grave that because of it Allah's throne is made to shake. He said: "The best intercession [i.e. intervention of a third party] is that which brings back together the husband and the wife." Womanizing -- divorce for the purpose of marrying another woman out of sexual attraction incurs Allah's curse according to the hadith: "Allah's curse is on the womanizing, divorcing man" (la`ana Allahu kulla dhawwaaqin mutallaaq). Finally, even in the midst of and after divorce, Allah has prescribed kindness upon the man: "(After pronouncing divorce) she must be retained in honor or released in kindness" (2:228).

For the above-mentioned reason (i.e. to prevent the quickness of divorce), in his time, Ibn Taymiyya gave the ijtihad (juridical opinion) by saying that three talaqs in one sitting constituted only one. He did this to interdict the prevalent custom of suddenly giving three talaqs, which in his time was on everyone's lips, (i.e. had become so commonplace as to be a habit). However the other four schools of fiqh had the opposite opinion in this matter.

14. He must not dwell on what he dislikes in his wife, but on what he likes.

15. The husband is not to stay away from his wife or keep his wife in a state of suspense, whether at home or abroad, for a protracted period of time except with her consent. Allah said: "Turn not away (from your wife) altogether, so as to leave her hanging. If you come to a friendly understanding and practice self-restraint, then Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Merciful" (4:129). Protracted separation (6 months or more in the Shafi`i school) without prior or subsequent arrangement with the wife, whether the husband is away willingly or unwillingly (for example due to war, imprisonment, or illness) is sufficient grounds for her to obtain divorce from the judge.

16. The Prophet (s) said: "Do not beat your wife." He also said: "Do not strike your wife in the face." The expiation for striking one's slave in the face is to set him or her free on the spot, but what expiation is there for striking one's wife? The Prophet (s) condemned the man who beats his wife in the day and then approaches her at night. And to beat her to the extent of inflicting serious injury is enough grounds for her to obtain divorce from the judge.

17. Caring for one's wife's sexual fulfillment is an obligation of religion. The Prophet (s) warned against rushing to gratify one's pleasure and forgetting that of one's wife. He also disliked that the husband should quickly withdraw from his wife afterwards, as it is a strain upon the wife. If she asks for intercourse, he should not refuse.

Conclusion
These are only some of the basic duties of the husband in Islam. The state of marriage is part of one's adherence to the Sunna and an exalted state of life indeed. In the words of the Prophet (s), it permits one to meet Allah "pure and cleansed" (tahiran mutahharan). One's behavior towards one's wife is the measure of the perfection of one's belief as the Prophet (s) said: "The most complete of the believers in his belief is he who perfects his manners, and the best of you in manners are those who act best towards their wives." Marriage must be approached with utmost seriousness, entered with the purest intent, and cultivated religiously as it does not come cheaply and it carries immense reward. The Prophet (s) called it "his way" (al-nikahu sunnati) and "half of religion" and he also said: "Two rak`at (prayer-cycles) of the married person are better than seventy rak`at of the unmarried." He also warned that among the greatest of responsibilities that had been placed upon men is that pertaining to the treatment of their wives.

And may Allah's blessings and peace be upon Muhammad,
his Family and all his Companions,
and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds

Comments

Christie said…
Assalaamu Alaikum Pixie,

Masha'Allah, what a nice article--thanks for posting it.
LK said…
Thanks for posting this. Its true you rarely see the requirements of the men. This really makes an Islamic marriage seem all the more beautiful.
Banana Anne said…
Jazakallah khair for posting this. I agree with LK, way too often I see too many articles a mile long about what the wife has to do for her husband, but hardly anything about what husbands have to do for their wives! As a woman, I don't want to feel like I don't have any rights in the marriage (which I know is not true, but sometimes it feels this way). This article really shows what it means to have "friendship and mercy" between the man and woman; marriage is a two-way street, and the husband and wife both need to contribute in order for there to be harmony and happiness.
Alice said…
9. He must treat her generously at all times. The Prophet (s) said that the best gift or charity (sadaqa) is that spent on one's wife.

10. If she works outside the house, it is praiseworthy for the husband to hire house help to relieve her from too heavy a burden. The wife's duties do not require her to feed her child, nor even to nurse it, nor to clean nor cook. It is the husband's duty to provide a nursemaid, food for older children, and servants to clean and cook. However, if the wife does those things out of mercy and love, it is a gift to the husband on her part.


If anyone knows fatwas in Arabic regarding these two points- I'd be very grateful :)

Pixie- your Omani clothes looks wonderful mashallah!
Mev said…
As Salam Alaykum Sis,
Firstly I like to say Mabrook on your permanent move to Oman! I was raised in Muscat and spent the first 19 years of my life there. MY parents have been there fr the past 37 years now Mashallah and continue to live there till today, and to be honest, those were the best years of my life. I continue to visit my parents in Muscat every couple of months, as well as make regular visits to Canada from my new home in Riyadh. I just wanted to say that I think its awesome that u're there, I'm sure u'll have a fantastic time. If there's any info u need about the city, pls don't hesitate to contact me and Insha'allah I'll love to meet u one day, the next time I'm there!
Best wishes fr ur future, May Allah (swt) make your move easy and bless you and your family. Ameen.
aliciav63 said…
Thanks for posting this..this article was very nice..looking forward to the next. BTW your outfit is so very lovely.
Anonymous said…
OMG you look preggo! MashAllah ;-))))
Ping Pong Bing Bong... said…
ASALAMU ALAYKUM WA REHMATULLAH!

OMG. Pixie. You have no idea how good it is to have you back. I have been missing your regular posts sooooo much and you cannot imagine how happy I was when I saw that you had finally returned! Hope you and your family are doing well. :) Totally love the Omani outfit, by the way! Looks GORGEOUS. Green rocks!

Anyway, this is tooootally off-topic, but I just wanted to share with you and other I Love Hishma readers a totally cool way I have discovered of styling the overhead abaya. Actually, I saw one of the girls at my school wearing this and for a moment, I couldn't stop staring at her - she just looked SO dang elegant!

Okay, so what she did - I'm not an expert on overhead abayas and their technologies so you'll have to excuse my dodgy explanations - she basically put her overhead abaya on as normal, but the top part (which you put over your head, like a khimar) she had pushed back about one third of the way over her head, showing an absolutely GORGEOUS coloured khimar underneath. She was wearing turquoise, but I imagine it would look AMAZING with any other colour of the rainbow. (Not that turquoise is in the rainbow, but heehee.) I can't remember how it was from underneath - like if you could see the bottom section of the turquoise khimar where it draped over her chest or something - as I said I'm not exactly an expert on overhead abayas and I've only ever seen two overhead abaya wearers in my entire life of living - but this is just an idea for the overhead abaya girls... Wear a brightly coloured khimar just underneath your black overhead abaya, and push it back a little to show... It looks cooooolio!

Anyway, great blog, Pixie. If this crazy droning of mine was a complete waste of time and space, I do hope you will forgive me.

Ciao! Ciao! Ciao!
Anonymous said…
when working in an office, how to tie the hijab so that it be formal but at the same tims covers the chest. do you have ideas? tutorial? without silk scarfs please thanks
lili said…
Are you pregnant? very nice outfit though! but what about the niqab?
Anonymous said…
Asalamualaikum,

Nice to see you blogging again. Hope to read more!

from a brother in Canada : )
Aida Spin2liux said…
Salaam

Girl, I missed your posts and even your so called "harsheness"

What happened to you, how come did you suddenly move to oman?

Are you still wearing your niqab? I read you had doubts about it, what happened?

Much love :)
Pixie said…
MashaAllah all: thank you, absolutely not one mean nasty commenter, yippee, lol. And I am not pregnant, LOL. Omani clothing is just loose fitting:D It looks even looser on me cuz I weigh, like 84 lbs now, so everything is always too big unless I buy from the kids section or get things tailored. About wearing the niqab, I intend to start wearing it again but had stopped after leaving Abu Dhabi (seeing my Mother the first time in nigh five years it would have been too much for her).

Canadian Muslim man: InshaAllah you will find a good wife. There are many sisters who want to live in the West and not the Gulf. But many find it easier to practice their religion here. Men (unless they are beared, kufied, or thobed) don't stand out like we do LOL. Maybe I will want to one day again. It is a great privellage for a Muslim woman I think to be proud of her hijab and suffer ignorance int he West (more reward) but LOL, I had enough on my plate deal with without that. Family issues caused the move in the end, and a love of the land where I first heard the adhan.