Islam_in_Focus_text

should be well on the way to a happy and fulfilling married
life. However, Islam goes much further than this in setting
the course of behavior for husbands and wives. Many are the
statements of the Qur'an and the Sunna that prescribe kind-
ness and equity. compassion and Iove, sympathy and consid-
eration, patience and good will. The Prophet goes as so as to
declare that the best Muslim is the one who is best to his
family, and the greatest, most blessed joy in life is a good,
righteous wife.
The consummation of marriage creates new roles for the
parties concerned. Each role is a set of equitable, proportion-
ate rights and obligations. The role of the husband evolves
around the moral principle that it is his solemn duty to God
to treat his wife with kindness, honor, and patience; to keep
her honorably or free her from the marital bond honorably;
and to cause her no harm or grief (Qur'an, 2:229-232; 4:19).
The role of the wife is summarized in the verse that women
have rights even as they have duties, according to what is
equitable; but men have a degree over them (2:228). This
degree is usually interpreted by Muslim scholars in conjunc-
tion with another passage which states, among other things,
that men are trustees, guardians, and protectors of women
because God has made some of them excel others and be-
cause men expend of their means (Qur'an, 4:34). This degree
may be likened to what sociologists call "instrumental lead-
ership" or external authority in the household due to the di-