Forty Gems of Beauty — Page 81
81 to Divine scrutiny in light of the rights of His creatures and that the kind treatment of one’s wife holds a place of high priority, so much so that in the eyes of God, the best of Muslims is the one who is best in treatment of his wife. But as everyone is likely to feel, according to his own sense of values, that his treatment of his wife is ideal, in order to dispel this likely error, the Holy Prophet (May peace and blessings of Allah be on him) said that the standard of good treatment would not conform to the rules arbitrarily set by individuals, but it will be judged by his own (the Holy Prophet’s) example, since, by the grace of God, his treatment of his wives was really the ideal. Through the above observation, the Holy Prophet (May peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has raised so high the standard of marital rights of Muslim women that, with the possible exception of temporary unpleasantness which often occurs even in the best- regulated families, a life of torment cannot be the lot of a good wife in the house of a good Muslim. The truth is that if a wife enjoys comfort at the hands of her husband, she is prepared to bear every kind of hardship with pleasure, for no other joy of the world has, in comparison, the least value in her eyes. But if a husband does not treat his wife with kindness, then for the wife, the wealth of her husband is a curse, likewise, his honour is a curse, and his health is a curse. For these gifts are valued only in the context of marital happiness and a husband’s love. There is not the least doubt about it, therefore, that this blessed observation of the Holy Prophet (May peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) serves to make the four walls of the home a paradise, provided that on her part, the wife abides by the husband’s will and appreciates his love. The unity between the husband and wife necessarily makes its impression on the children, and thus the felicity of the present becomes the harbinger of permanent bliss. This is the lesson that our chief (May peace and blessings of Allah be on him) imparted fourteen hundred years ago, while living in a