Islam on Marital Rights — Page 18
18. ISLAM ON MARITAL RIGHTS. Hazrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad, the second. Successor to the Promised Messiah (a. s. ) has said, "The Holy Quran tells us that women may go out of their houses. If they had been forbidden, the Divine command of "restraining the eyes" (in the presence of the opposite sex), contained in the Holy Quran would be a mere redundance. The early history of Islam bears out that the wives and daughters of the Holy Prophet (s. a. w) used to go out of their houses. Muslim women assisting men in battles; working in the fields, and gardens; going out to answer the call of nature and undertaking journeys to acquire education or to teach, are facts clearly recorded in history. " (Misbah: 1-4-1928). . Nevertheless, it is incorrect to hold that it is a part of a woman's duty to go out and earn her own living by working in offices and factories. The true sphere of her activities is certainly her house. The Holy Quran commands: "And the man to whom the child belongs shall be responsible for their (the child and the mother) food and clothing according to usage. " (2:234). . Thus it is the man's responsibility to provide the necessities of life for his family and children, for if the woman is engaged in earning the daily bread, who will look after the family and the household chores? Who will rear and bring up the children and fashion their character in the proper manner?. HUSBAND – THE BREADWINNER. When I visited England in connection with the collection of funds for the Fazl-i-Umar Foundation, Mr. B. A. Rafiq, Imam of the London Mosque, related to me that a couple, both working somewhere, left the house for their jobs every morning. One day it happened that the husband came back a couple of hours before his wife. When she came, her husband asked her if the tea would be ready soon? The wife lost her temper and retorted, “Shut up!. You are here for the last two hours. You could have prepared tea yourself!" Where both the couple work, such incidents are very common. May God help us! To earn daily bread is surely the