Muslim Attitudes to Marriage
In Islam, marriage is a partnership. Muslim women accept only Allah as
their master, and do not therefore consider themselves to be inferior
to a husband. It is basic in Muslim society that the man is
responsible for the family's welfare and business outside the home,
but the woman has virtually absolute rights within it so long as her
behaviour does not shame her provider or husband.
No institution works well without a clear leader, and therefore there
should be one in every family. Most Muslim women are quite happy for
this leader to be the man. If the man is not worth respecting, divorce
is a straightforward matter, and the woman may look for a better one.
Sometimes the woman in a household is more intelligent or organized or
practical than the man, so he will quite sensibly leave most matters
to her-but in Islam he is still responsible for her and therefore must
take care of her and try to provide for her as much as he could and
not just take advantage of her advantage of her. The women usually
live with the husband's family but must be treated with the same
respect and not considered an outsider.
Marriage and family life are considered to be very important in Islam.
Traditionally the man's duty is to go out to work to support the
family and the woman's duty is to bring up the children and look after
the household. The father makes the main decisions whilst the mother
is important within the home and must be shown respect by her husband
and children. This is seen as the natural order of things and the way
Allah intended men and women to live. The man was also considered to
be the provider for the family.
Muslims believe that their household is ...