Important Warning: Since the following 30 articles contain [private] information for families, Islamic scholars recommended that this information should be read alone!..

A MAN’S DUTIES TOWARDS HIS WIFE

The following pamphlet is (the English version of) a passage quoted verbatim from the book entitled Ma’rifâtnâma, (written by Ibrâhîm Hakki ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaih’, 1195 [1781 A.D.], Hasan Kal’a, Erzurum – 1263 [1846], Tillo, Si’rid:)

Dear friend! A man should do the following thirty things in his dealings with his wife:

1– He should always be good-tempered towards her. [Allâhu ta’âlâ likes good-tempered people. He dislikes bad-tempered ones. It is harâm to hurt a person. Marriage is harâm for an oppressive person.]

2– He should always behave softly towards her.

Our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ stated: “The best and the most useful of Muslims is one who is good and useful towards his wife.”

3– Whenever he comes home, he should greet his wife [by saying, “Salâm-un-’alaikum,”] and then ask her how she is.

4– When he sees her alone and in a good humour, he should gently touch and caress her hair, smile at her, kiss her, and hug her.

5– When he sees her alone and sad, he should say that he loves her and that he feels sorry for her; he should ask her if she has a problem that he can help her solve; he should say sweet things to her.

6– He should please her by making promises even if he is not sure that he will be able to fulfill them. For, she has shut herself up in his home, all alone and has completely yielded herself to him, his faithful companion, fellow sufferer, and bread-giver, who entertains him, rears his children, and caters for his needs.

7– He should help her with the raising, training, and education of their children. For, a baby cries day and night, allowing no respite to its mother. It is, as it were, a creditor who ruthlessly nags at her. Then, any help offered to her will be rewarded in kind by Allâhu ta’âlâ.

8– He should provide for her to wear the most valuable dresses and clothes that are in vogue in the country. He should let her wear the loveliest indoor dresses and be dressed up as she wishes. Outdoors, however, these lovely dresses should be covered lest nâ-mahram men should see her in them.

9– He should buy good food for her to eat. If he is rich enough he should buy her everything that is halâl. He should look on it as a debt he owes her to provide her ample, practical, healthy dresses worthy of a Muslim woman, and delicious food. [Imâm Ghazâlî ‘rahmatullâhi ’alaih’ states in the hundred and forty-first page of
Kimyâ-i-sa’âdat: “One should be neither tight-fisted nor prodigal in buying the needs of one’s wife. Thawâb for the money spent buying the needs of one’s family is more than that which is earned by almsgiving. Our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ stated: ‘Of the gold coins spent for ghazâ (holy war), for emancipation of slaves, for dispensing alms to the poor, and for the needs of one’s household, the gold spent for the household is the most meritorious and yields most thawâb.’ Ibni Sîrîn ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaih’, (of Basra, 33–110 [729 A.D.],) states: ‘One should buy sweet food for one’s family at least once a week.’ Marriage is harâm for a person who is incapable of providing ‘nafaqa’ for a family. Meals should not be eaten alone. It yields plenty of thawâb to eat them with one’s wife and children. The most important thing is to earn the nafaqa by way of halâl and feed one’s family with halâl food.”]

10– He should not beat his wife. If she commits one of the offences written in the hundred and eighty-eighth page of the third volume of Durr-ul-mukhtâr, it will be permissible for him to chastise her with (a punishment termed) ta’zîr. (Please see the eleventh chapter!) However, it is not wâjib to do so.

[Some people argue that beating women is a commandment declared in the thirty-third âyat-i-kerîma of Nisâ Sûra. The âyat-i-kerîma, however, purports: “Men are dominant over women. For, Allâhu ta’âlâ has created some of His slaves superior over others. Moreover, men spend their property for them (women). The righeous women are devoutly obedient to Allâhu ta’âlâ and observe the rights of their husbands. In their husbands’ absence they guard their honour and property as Allâhu ta’âlâ would have them do so. As to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and mis-conduct; admonish them (first); (next), refuse to share their beds; (and last), beat them lightly if they still insist in their disobedience! But if they return to obedience, avoid doing something to annoy them!” As is seen, it is not permissible to annoy by any means, let alone beat, women who do not act perfidiously with respect to honour and property. As for perfidious ones; permission has been given to chastise them by beating them lightly with open, fistless hand or by using an open, untied handkerchief. Women guilty of acts of perfidy in matters involving honour and property are punished heavily in all governmental and jurisprudential systems. Islam, on the other hand, attaches great value to and has profound compassion over the woman; therefore, before delivering perfidious ones to the talons of law, it commands men to first try to chastise them by means of a gentle beating.

It is stated in a hadîth-i-sherîf: “If a man beats his wife, I will sue him on the Rising Day.” Let alone beating her, he must not even say acrid or harsh words to her on account of faults concerning worldly matters.

Because women are delicate-hearted and emotional people, many of them are jealous of one another. Therefore, a man who has newly entered into a marriage should especially be on the alert lest he fall for the spiteful stories that his own mother or sisters or other women may be telling about his wife, and he should never give way to such backbitings. Talks of that sort should never be grounds for hurting one’s wife.

Identical vigilance should be exercised against what one’s wife says about one’s mother and sisters. A Muslim should by no means let anyone maltreat his mother. He himself, his wife, and his children should always be respectful toward his mother. Respecting and serving the parents and parents-in-law should be a married couple’s primary duty. They should always try to win their hearts and benedictions and look on their benedictions as great gains.]

11– He should not stay cross with her for more than a day on account of her faults in performing the commandments of Allâhu ta’âlâ.

12– He should react with mildness against the peevishnesses of his wife. For, women have been created from curved rib bones. In comparison with men, they have shorter minds and weaker piety. They have been trusted to the man’s care. And a marriage should have been entered into for the purpose of leading a life shared with mutual warm affections and kindnesses.

[A married couple will be wise to avoid behaving hurtfully towards each other. It is a symptom of idiocy to annoy or hurt one’s lifelong companion. A cruel and cantankerous person’s spouse will always be upset and will live in a continuous mental strain, which will fray her nervous system. And a frayed nervous system will in turn cause various illnesses. A person who has caused his spouse to become ill has ruined his own life. His happiness has come to an end. He has deprived himself of the service and support of his spouse. From now on his life will be spent listening to the problem’s of his spouse, running after doctors, looking for medicines for her, and doing services he has not been used to doing. It is his own bad temper that has caused all these disasters and unending inconveniences. He is so self-reproachful now; but, unfortunately, there is no use being rueful. Then, o, you, Muslim! Do think, and you will see that all the bad temper and harshness with which you torment your spouse now will recoil on you! Always try to treat her with a smiling face and a sweet tongue! If you can manage to do so, you will both live in confort and happiness and earn the Grace of your Rabb (Allâh-u ta’âlâ)!]

13– When he notices a turn for the worse in the conduct of his wife, he should blame it on himself; he should think, “She would not behave like that if I were a good person.” One of the Awliyâ had a bad-tempered wife. He was always patient with her. When others asked him why, he would explain, “If I divorce her, I fear
that someone not patient enough may marry her and they may ruin each other.” Our superiors ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaihim ajma’în’ stated: “If a person bears the bad-temper of his wife patiently, six kinds of harm will be avoided: The child will not be beaten; the livestock will not be trashed; the cat will not be sworn at; the guest will not be offended; and the clothes will not be torn.” These things are written in Shir’at-ul-islâm.

14– He should keep silent when his wife becomes angry. This will make the woman regret and begin to apologize. For, she is weak. Silence will defeat her.

15– When his wife’s behaviour takes a turn for the better and she begins to do her work with alacrity, he should invoke blessings on her and pay gratitude to Allâhu ta’âlâ. For, an acquiescent woman is a great blessing.

16– He should treat his wife in such a way as she will feel that her husband loves her more than he does anyone else.

17– He should never leave her the business of buying and selling, going out to the grocer’s, to the butcher’s, to the market place, etc.; he should ask her her opinion on indoor matters; and he should not overburden her by telling her about stressfull outdoor matters.

18– He should always be on the alert for the unknowing acts of his wife. For, our father, ’Âdam ‘alaihis-salâtu wa-s-salâm’, made a mistake upon the invitation of his blessed wife, Hawwa (Eva), our mother.

19– He should overlook his wife’s faults that are not sinful acts. With sweet and soft words, he should try to dissuade her from sinful acts and words and to make her abide by her religious duties such as namâz, fast, and ghusl. By promising that he will buy her valuable dresses and pieces of jewellery, he should make her
perform her acts of worship and prevent her from sinful acts.

20– He should keep the secrets of his wife and should not let anyone know about her faults.

21– He should crack her jokes, be like a woman and play with her. As a matter of fact, the Beloved One of Allâhu ta’âlâ ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ was the most elegant man towards his azwâj-i-mutahhara, (i.e. our blessed mothers, his blessed wives.) One day he raced with (our blessed mother) ’Âisha ‘radiy-Allâhu
’anhâ’. Our mother ’Âisha won the race. Then the race was repeated, the Server-i-’âlam ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ being the winner this time. It is not sinful or useless for a Muslim to play with his wife; on the contrary, it yields thawâb.

It is stated as follows in the two hundred and fifty-third (253) page of the fifth volume of Ibni ’Âbidîn: “Lu’b, la’ib, lahw, and ’abas are synonyms; they mean ‘to spend one’s time playing’. Nerd, i.e. backgammon; chess; fourteen-stones; to play or listen to musical instruments; dancing; jugglery; clownery; mockery; clapping (with hands); all these things fall into the category of playing and are acts called tahrîmî makrûh. If they are done habitually, or if they prevent one from doing acts that are farz, or if they are turned into gambling, they will be harâm, according to a consensus (of scholars). So is the case with playing or listening to
instruments like tambourines, reeds and flutes. It is stated in a hadîth-i-sherîf: ‘Lahw of any kind is harâm. Its only permissible versions are: playing with the wife; drills, games, and races made with horses and weapons.’ Wrestling as a preparation for warfare is permissible. Hence, playing football is harâm in various respects.

22– He should not make his wife live in a house in an avenue or facing a park or a recreation center or a sports field or a school, and he should not cause her to see nâ-mahram men or to talk with them. He should make her live at a place close to a mosque and among neighbours who are pious Muslims. Pious neighbours will
prevent them from tormenting and annoying each other and give them advice. They will run to their aid. They will testify to the right one in the court of law. It is wâjib to migrate to such a quarter or city. Muslims should take their household out for picnics in the country such as watersides so that they will take some fresh air in good weather; they should prefer places that are not crowded and as safe against harâms as possible; they should not prefer holidays, when such places are mostly crowded. They should not take them to places where acts of fisq are being committed. Please see the eighth chapter of the fourth fascicle of Endless Bliss!

23– He should not send his wife out for education or for work in a manner forbidden by Islam or to places that will cause fitna. The author ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaih’ of the book entitled Behjet-ul- fatâwâ states: “If women come to a mosque to listen to sermons being preached to men, the people in charge should not admit them.” [The same rule applies if they come to listen to mawlids.]

The forty-second one of the sins committed with the entire body is explained as follows in the book entitled Hadîqa: It is harâm for a free woman to go out for a journey of (at least) hundred and four kilometres without her husband or one of her (male and) eternally mahram relatives with her. It is harâm even if there are many other women among the people making the same journey. When someone said, “Yâ Rasûlallah (O, you, the Messenger of Allah)! My wife is leaving for hajj,” the blessed Prophet ordered: “Join her!” ‘Mahram’ means ‘woman’s relative(s) by way of genealogy or through the milk-tie or on account of nikâh, with whom it is eternally harâm for her to marry. Husband of a woman’s sister or maternal or paternal aunt is not her mahram relative. For, that woman may marry one of these men. Please see the eighth chapter of the fourth fascicle of Endless Bliss! If her mahram relative were a dhimmî, he would be no different (in this respect) from her Muslim mahram relative. It is not permissible for her to go that distance with her mahram relative who is fâsiq [a wicked person] or not reliable or below the age of puberty. Attractive girls below the age of puberty are accepted as adults. That it is harâm for women to go out far hajj without their mahram relatives has been stated unanimously by all the scholars of the Hanafî Madhhab. It is permissible in the Shâfi’î Madhhab for trustable women to go out in groups for hajj without their mahram relatives in their company. But then there should be no other men with them and it has to be made sure that no fitna will arise. [It is not permissible for women in the Hanafî Madhhab to go out for hajj without their mahram relatives in imitation of the Shâfi’î Madhhab. For, a Hanafî’s imitating the Shâfi’î Madhhab is permissible only when it is the only way to get over a haraj, a problem in performing an act of farz or in avoiding an act of harâm. And this permissibility, in its turn, requires observing all the provisions made by the Madhhab being imitated. In that case the entire hajj will have to be performed suitably (also) with the precepts of the Shâfi’î Madhhab. For, it is called telfîq to mix (the facilities in) two Madhhabs, (e.g. the Hanafî and Shâfi’î Madhhabs,) in the performance of a certain act of worship, if there is not haraj [a problem] (in doing it in accordance with one of the Madhhabs). A muleffiq’s worship will not be sahîh. It will be bâtil.] Here we end our translation from Hadîqa. (‘Muleffîq’ means ‘a person who mixes two or more Madhhabs. Please see the initial pages of the fourth chapter of the fourth fascicle of Endless Bliss for terms such as ‘haraj’ and ‘darûrat’.)

24– He should teach his wife how to read the Qur’ân al-kerîm and also, of the acts of farz and harâm, (i.e. Islam’s commandments and prohibitions,) the ones she needs to know. [He must buy the books published by the (bookstore in Istanbul, Turkey, and named) Hakîkat Kitâbevi, bring them home, and make her read them.] Anyone who does not know the commandments and prohibitions of Allâhu ta’âlâ, and who therefore does not teach them to his wife and children, either, is a fâsiq [wicked, evil] person; he will suffer torment in Hell.

25– He should not withdraw from coitus before ejaculation (onanism, coitus interruptus) without her consent or before her orgasm is over. Ibni ’Âbidîn ‘rahima-hullâhu ta’âlâ’ states as follows in his explanation of ‘qismat’ in ‘nikâh’: “Coitus performed once will suffice for the payment of wife’s conjugal right. Repetition is wâjib religiously, but not judicially; which means to say that the woman cannot apply to a judge of the court of law. It is the wife’s right to demand the coitus to be repeated, and if she demands it it will be wâjib for the husband to perform coitus once again. There is not a stated number of (mandatory) coituses.” There is a scholarly counsel implying that both excess and remissness will be harmful, the former, physically; and the latter, spiritually; and that the intervals had better not be longer than four nights running. Coitus during menstruation is harâm; it is a grave sin to do so. If the menses stops after ten days, coitus will be permissible even without her having made a ghusl. If it stops before ten days but after the completion of her regular period, coitus will be permissible after she makes a ghusl or after the elapse of one prayer time. If it stops both before ten days and before the end of her regular period, coitus with the wife will not be permissible until her regular period is over. However, she will have to perform her daily prayers of namâz, and will have to fast (if the month is Ramadân), in the interim. Please see the fourth chapter of the fourth fascicle of Endless Bliss!

26– The wife should adorn herself only for her husband at home and not for other people. Men whose wives and daughters go out without properly covering themselves will go to Hell together with them and they will be subjected to very bitter torment.

It is stated in Halabî-i-kebîr, (written by Ibrâhîm bin Muhammad Halabî ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaih’, 866, Aleppo – 956 [1549 A.D.]:) “The entire body of a free woman, with the exception of her palms, face, and feet, is awrat. For, our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ stated: ‘The woman is awrat. If she goes out without properly covering herself, the devil will gaze at her with his eyes wide open.’ According to some Islamic scholars, her feet also are her awrat parts. An âyat-i-kerîma in Nûr Sûra purports: ‘Let Muslim women not show their ornaments! They will not be sinful for the ones that are exposed inevitably as they do their work. Let their head-kerchiefs cover their entire heads down to their collars, [so that their hair, ears, and breasts should be covered well.]’ The word zînat, i.e. ornament, used in the âyat-i-kerîma and commanded to be covered, should be construed as ‘parts of the body whereon the ornaments, (i.e. jewels,) are worn’; hence, the âyat-i-kerîma commands Muslim women to cover those parts of their body. And it has been stated by our blessed Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ that the parts of a woman’s body where jewels and gems are worn and which do not incur sinfulness when they are not covered, are her face and hands. It is declared in the same Sûra: ‘Let women walk without stamping the ground hard with their feet, lest the ornaments they wear on their feet be heard.’ It is understood from this âyat-i-kerîma that (women’s) feet are within (their) awrat parts.” The Qur’ân al-kerîm commands women to cover themselves. It will be unfair to say that this commandment is an invention of some jealous husbands. Fibs of this sort are abominable slanders spread for the purpose of misguiding Muslim women by enemies of Islam and blindly reinforced by people who are pitiably unlearned in Islamic rules. How could such slanders spread by adversaries of Islam be of any value in the face of the fact that Allâhu ta’âlâ does not teach us everything in a simple language in the Qur’ân al-kerîm. Technicalities such as the number of rak’ats in each of the five daily prayers of namâz, the number of sajdas that are farz in the performance of each rak’at, and many other acts that are farz, (i.e. definite commandments of Allâhu ta’âlâ,) are not stated expressly in the Qur’ân al-kerîm. Such farz acts have been explained, defined, and explicated by our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’. (Scan, for instance, the tenth chapter of the fourth fascicle of Endless Bliss to see how our blessed Prophet teaches us when we should perform each of the five daily prayers of namâz.) Farz and harâm acts explained by our Prophet, as well as the farz and harâm acts clearly declared in the Qur’ân al-kerîm, are valuable. Anyone who denies them will also go out of Islam and become an unbeliever. For, at seventeen different places of the Qur’ân al-kerîm there are âyat-i-kerîmas which purport: “If you love Allâhu ta’âlâ adapt yourselves to me! Allâhu ta’âlâ loves those who adapt themselves to me.” and “Obey Allah and the Rasûl (Messenger). If you do not obey, Allah definitely hates unbelievers.” These seventeen âyat-i-kerîmas are quoted and explained in detail in the books entitled Hadîqa and Berîqa. In a hadîth-i-sherîf quoted in the book entitled Majmâ’ul-anhur our blessed Prophet ‘sall- Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ states: “The entire body of a free woman, with the exception of her face and the palms of her both hands, is awrat.” It is harâm for her to show herself to men with her awrat parts in the open, and for anyone to look at someone else’s awrat parts, even without any feeling of lust. To look lustfully at a nâ-mahram woman is harâm, be it on the face. It is stated in a hadîth-i- sherîf: “If a person looks lustfully at a woman, regardless of her limb being looked at, on the Rising Day molten lead will be poured down into his eyes and he will be flung into Hell.” It is harâm to touch a nâ-mahram woman’s hands or face, even without lust. It is stated in a hadîth-i-sherîf: “If a person holds a nâ-mahram woman’s hand, his hand will be filled with fire on the Rising Day.” It is stated in hadîth-i-sherîfs quoted in Zewâjir, (by Ibni Hajar-i- Mekkî ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaih’, 899 [1494 A.D.] – 974 [1566], Mekka:) “A woman who exposes her head at any place other than her husband’s home will have torn down the curtain between her Rabb (Allâhu ta’âlâ) and herself.” and “Let a person who believes in Allah and in the Rising after death not go to a (public bath called) hamâm; and let a person who believes in Allah and in the Rising after death not send his wife to a hamâm; and let a person who believes in Allah and in the Rising after death not drink wine; and let a person who believes in Allah and in the Rising after death not sit at a meal table where wine is being drunk; and let a person who believes in Allah and in the Rising after death not meet in private, i.e. in halwat, with a nâ-mahram woman.” and “In the latest time it will be harâm for the men of my Ummat (Muslims) to go to hamâms, (i.e. public baths,) even if they should go there with their awrat parts properly covered. For, there will also be men with their awrat parts exposed in those places. May Allâhu ta’âlâ put a curse on people who open their awrat parts and on those who look at others’ awrat parts!” and “Between the navel and the knee is awrat.” In the Hanafî Madhhab a man’s knee is awrat, and it is harâm for him to show his knee to others. In the Shâfi’î Madhhab the knee is not awrat. In the Mâlikî and Hanbalî Madhhabs neither the navel nor the knee is awrat. The only awrat parts (of a man) in these two Madhhabs are the (pubic and anal areas, which are called the) Sev’eteyn (or Saw’atayn). Being enlightened by these hadîth-i-sherîfs, Muslim women should cover themselves properly and avoid going to places frequented by naked people. [It is recommended that Muslims should rather live in self-standing houses with yards than in flats in apartment buildings and take their baths in the bathrooms in their own houses. Muslim men bathe in groups at uncrowded beaches when there are no naked people around. When a man in the Hanafî or Shâfi’î Madhhab finds himself in an ineluctable situation, it will be permissible for him not to cover his knees or thighs by imitating (one of) the other two Madhhabs, (i.e. the Mâlikî and Hanbalî Madhhabs, since a man’s knees and thighs are not within his awrat parts,) when he has to make ghusl, if he is sure that otherwise his living and/or personal rights will be at stake or a fitna will arise. By the time he gets out of that compelling situation, however, it will be harâm for him to let those parts stay open for a single minute. There can be no situation critical enough to compel women to expose any (awrat) part of their body by imitating another Madhhab, since women have to cover all their body regardless of the Madhhab they are in. In fact, women will never experience an ineluctable situation of that nature.

The blessed author ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaih’ of the book entitled Tafsîr-i-Mazharî states as follows in his explanation of Nûr Sûra: “Only in case of a darûrat should a woman go out; and then her head, her hair, her neck, and all her body should be covered. The darûrat that will make it justifiable for a woman to go out is for her not to have anyone to do shopping for her and/or to teach her her religion, Islam. Then it will be permissible for her to go out after covering her head and face with her headkerchief and covering the rest of her body with any kind of cloth. The word ‘face’ as used here should be construed as ‘head’, since it is permissible in all for Madhhabs for her to go out without covering her face.” Hence, it is not compulsory for women to wear the ‘charshaf’, which was worn by the latest Ottoman women. It is permissible for them to wear an ample mantle (with sleeves long enough to cover the arms including the wrists and) long enough to cover also the parts below the knees, a pair of (opaque) stockings, and a head-kerchief. Please see the initial pages of the eighth chapter of the fourth fascicle of Endless Bliss! Imâm Rabbânî ‘rahmatullâhi ’alaih’ wrote in the three hundred and thirteenth letter of the first volume (of his blessed work, Maktûbât) that “All over the Arabic countries most people, men and women alike, wear long, shirtlike garments called ‘pîrâhan’ or ‘qamîs’ or ‘antârî’. The garments worn by women has closed collars, and men wear garments with open fronts.” Ahzâb Sûra commands women to cover themselves with some of their jelâbîb, which is the plural form of ‘jilbâb’. Abû-s-su’ûd Efendi ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaih’, (896 [1490 A.D.] – 982 [1574], the thirteenth Ottoman Shaikh-ul-islâm,) states in his Tafsîr: “Jilbâb is a headkerchief wider than a normal headkerchief and shorter than a shirt. Women use it to cover their head. Any piece of cloth used to cover the face and the entire body is called so, too.” The author of the Turkish book of tafsîr entitled Tibyân, (Muhammad bin Hamza ’Ayntâbî ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaih’, d. 1111 A.H.,) calls it ‘milhafa’, which means ‘wrapper that is worn as an outer garment’. In the book of tafsîr entitled Mawâqib, (by Ismâ’îl Ferrûh of Crimea ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaih’, d. 1256 A.H.,) and in Lughat-i-Nâjî, (by Mu’allim Nâjî, d. 1893 A.D.,) the words ‘jâr’ and ‘ferâja’, i.e. ‘long shirt’ are written as its synonyms; all of which add up to mean that it is a long mantle-like gown. Books of Tafsîr and Fiqh do not contain a statement to the effect that this gown is made up of two pieces, that it is called ‘charshaf’, or that women should wear this ‘charshaf’ only. In fact, in the hadîth-i-sherîf that states, “If a person wears a jilbâb that has been obtained by way of harâm, his namâz will not be accepted,” quoted in the book entitled Kitâb-ul-fiqh-i-’ala-l-madhâhib-il-arba’a, the word jilbâb is given the meaning, ‘qamîs, i.e. long shirt’. It is written also in (the lexical book) al-Munjid, (which was written by a non-Muslim named Louis Ma’lûf,) that ‘jilbâb’ means ‘qamîs’. The final page of the book entitled Jâliyat-ul-ekdâr[1] contains a statement that reads: “Yâ Rabbî (o our Rabb, Allah)! Make us wear the jelâbîb of Thine Hikmat!” The hadîth-i-sherîf and the invocation (quoted above) show that ‘jilbâb’ is worn by men, too. It is stated in the annotation to the (Shâfi’î) book entitled al-Enwâr li-a’mâl-il-ebrâr, (which was written by Yûsuf Erdebîlî Shâfi’î, d. 799 A.H.:) “It is mustahab for a woman to wear an ample and long garment and a headkerchief and to cover her garment with a thick ‘jilbâb’ as she performs namâz. ‘Jilbâb’ means a long and ample wrapping garment that is called ‘milhafa [ferâja, mantle-like garment] or a head-kerchief.” To explain the word ‘jilbâb’ in the Qur’ân al-kerîm as ‘charshaf’, and to reject the fact that a woman should cover herself with an ample and long garment, means to misinterpret the Qur’ân al-kerîm with one’s personal views.

Statements such as, “The time in which we live compels us. We cannot help keeping up with the times,” are wrong. They are fibs spread by freemasons. Communists are annihilating the Muslims by way of persecution and killing. Freemasons, on the other hand, are alienating the Muslims from their faith by fondling them with lies and fallacies. And there are the lâ-madhhabî people, [i.e. zindiqs,] who are defiling Islam by giving false meanings to the Qur’ân al-kerîm and to hadîth-i-sherîfs.]

27– He should not set out for a safar, (i.e. a long-distance journey,) and not even for a supererogatory (nâfila) hajj, without his wife’s permission.

28– If his wife is steady with her (five) daily prayers of namâz and is obedient to him and does not show herself to nâ-mahram men without properly covering herself, he should marry a second woman. For, men who fail to mete out justice among their wives will go to Hell. Our blessed Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ stated: “If a man with two wives is not even-handed with them, he will come for the Last Judgment with his fiqure semi-bent.”

29– He should not tell his wife about his cares and sorrows or about his foes and debts.

30– In her presence and absence alike, he should always invoke blessings on her and never utter maledictions against her. For, she has been working for him day and night. She is his bread-maker, cook, tailor, bath-keeper, lookout for his property, his companion, best friend, and beautiful darling.

[1] It is a book of prayers and invocations written in the Arabic language by Khâlid Baghdâdî ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaih’, (1192, Zûr, to the north of Baghdâd– 1242 [1826 A.D.], Damascus.) It is available from Hakîkat Kitâbevi.