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Home, Sweet Home
Home, Sweet Home
values that have gripped these societies. But the U.N. decree that the rest of the
world must follow the same disastrous path, is something else. It is as if a person
lost an eye to horseplay, and now wants everyone else to voluntarily have an eye
removed!
It is unconscionable that we should be answering such chicanery with apologetics of
the kind that normally begin with, "Islam also allows women to," as in, "Islam also
allows women to work outside the home." Yes, it does in case of necessity, but that
is beside the point. The real issue is that Islam frees a wife from the burden to
provide for the family. It is solely the husband's responsibility. In return, wife's main
responsibility is to stay home and take care of the children. The primary field of
women's endeavor is the home, sweet home. And this has to be stated without
hesitation or apology. The Qur'an says: "And stay quietly in your homes."[Al-Ahzab,
33:33]. And the Prophet, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, said: "The wife is responsible
for taking care of the home of her husband, and she will be accountable for those
given in her charge."[Bukhari, Muslim]. This is also the most rewarding job that
anyone can think of. The Prophet, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, assured the woman
who stays home to take care of the children, that she would be with him in paradise.
According to another hadith, during pregnancy and the entire period of nursing, the
believing mother is like the soldier on active duty. If she dies, she gets the reward
reserved for a martyr. Yet another hadith says to the women: "Take care of the
home. That is your jihad." [Musnad Ahmad].
All of these clearly establish the basic division of labor between men and women
according to Islam: men are responsible for the affairs outside the home and the
women are responsible for taking care of the home. This division is not a relic of
some dark past. It is the only basis on which a healthy society has ever been built
and can be built today. The nations that have tried to alter this natural arrangement
long enough have nothing but grief and trouble to show for their efforts. And they
seem to be groping in the dark, unable to undo the damage and get out of the
quagmire. Is there any sane reason that those who have the Light should follow
them on the dark highway to disaster?