The Home and Women

While men are the physically stronger sex, the woman's biological
make-up has made her excel as the homemaker.She alone can be
impregnated, carry and deliver the child, and then suckle the baby.
Her gentle, caring and self-sacrificing temperament is best suited to
bringing up children and looking after the home. To say that she
should also earna living is an unacceptable injustice and implies that
everything she does for her home and children isworthless and needs to
be supplemented by an outside cover. A woman already has to play in
society a great and noble role as mother of a new generation, a
rolefor which no man can claim the honors. It is because of her
supreme role as mother that she is entitled to three times the
devotion given to the father from the children.
The roles of men and women in the Qur�aan are dealt as:
"Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has
made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend from
their means. Therefore, the righteous women are devoutly obedient, and
guard in the husband's absence what Allah orders them to guard." (V.
4:34)
This Divine injunction describes the man as Qawwam (maintainer) and
the woman as Qanitah (obedient) and Hafizatun lil-Ghaib (preserver of
the secret).The Verse gives two reasons as to why men are described as
maintainers. Firstly, because "Allah has madethe one of them to excel
the other," which meansthat He has excelled mento be physically
stronger and more inclined to have a career outside the home. The
history of mankind has always shown that men, from the most primitive
to themost technologically minded, have assumed the role of providing
food, maintaining law and order in the community, waging war against
enemies, and going on expeditions in search of new lands, adventure,
food and even hidden treasure. The women have primarily stayed at
hometo provide a stable environment for the children.
The second reason is that "they spend from their means." It is the
man's duty to provide financially for his family, and it is also the
man who is required to give a dower to his wife at the time of their
marriage. In the castle ofhis home, the husband isthe ruler and the
wife is his pillar of support. As in any establishment, there can only
be one ruler; a car with two drivers, a country with two kings or an
army with two generals would all be in utter chaos and disarray. The
husband has thus been put in charge of his home, but this is a
responsibility and not a privilege.
Both Sexes have Rights over each other:
The different roles of thesexes means that never is one sex burdened
with all the duties while the other enjoys all the privileges. Instead
they both have individual duties and privileges. The Qur�aan says in
this regard:
"And they (women) haverights similar over them to what is reasonable,
but men have a degree over them. And Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise."
(V. 2:228)