Malfuzat – Volume III — Page 36
36 Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad ٖ َھْلِہ ِ خَیْرُکُم ْ خَیْرُکُم ْ ل This means, the best among you is the one who is excellent in the treatment of his wife. How can one who does not treat and consort with his wife in a kind and noble manner be righteous? A person can only be good and virtuous in the mat- ter of other people when he treats his wife benevolently and lives with her amica- bly; not if over petty matters he abuses and beats her. There have been examples of certain cases where an angered man became enraged with his wife on a trivial issue and hit her, and as a result, his wife sustained an injury at a sensitive spot, which caused her death. Therefore, in favour of women, Allah the Exalted states: 1 ِ عَاشِرُوْهُنَّ بِالْمَعْرُوْف And consort with them in kindness. Of course, if someone’s wife does something inappropriate, it is necessary to strongly advise her. The duty of a husband is to firmly ingrain into the heart of his wife that he can never be pleased with any action that is against the teachings of religion, but also, he must demonstrate that he is not so cruel and oppressive that he cannot overlook her faults. A husband is, to his wife, a reflection of Allah the Exalted. It is narrated in a Hadith that if Allah Almighty had permitted one to prostrate before anyone other than God, He would order a wife to prostrate before her husband. A hus- band must possess both a nature of strength and tenderness. If a husband tells his wife to move a heap of bricks from one place to another, she does not have the right to object. The Relationship Between a Spiritual Guide and a Disciple Similarly, we learn from the Holy Quran and Hadith that the relationship of a disciple with their spiritual guide ought to be like the relationship of a wife with her husband. A follower must not refuse any command given to them by their spiritual guide, nor ask for any justifications. This is why the Holy Quran states: 2 ْ ْنَ اَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِم ی الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيْمَ صِرَاطَ الَّذِ اِهْدِنَا Guide us in the right path—the path of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy blessings. 1 an-Nisa , 4:20 2 al-Fatihah, 1:6-7