Duties of Husband and Wife toward Each Other

The family is the first social institution in human history, culture and civilization. Importance should be attached to it and its respect should be preserved because it is a place where one's physical and psychological wellbeing, safety as well as human dignity are achieved, consolidated and guaranteed. The family's integrity is indisputably crucial to society because it helps the society survive and have a healthy environment for man's subsistence. In a divine system and according to the Quranic culture, the main purpose of marriage is to establish a family and to provide comfort and peace of mind for man to grow, flourish and attain human perfection as well as proximity to God. For this reason, the Islamic system has set duties and obligations for each man and woman. Good conduct, attracting the attention of the partner, obedience in its particular meaning and education of children are the duties shared by both husband and wife. Protection and guardianship of the family, cooperation, maintenance, providing security for the family are the obligations of the husband towards his wife. And obedience, chastity, modesty, protection of husband's properties are some of the particular obligations of the wife to her husband. The present article seeks to study the above obligations as well as the threats that may endanger the family relationships. Some of the threats on the part of the husband are: beating and tormenting the wife, irritability, avarice, excessive jealous care, impulsiveness. The threats on the part of the wife are: ingratitude, misplaced and unreasonable expectations, lack of tolerance and faithfulness to the husband.