Fulfilling One’s Duties as a Wife: How ?

Fulfilling One’s Duties as a Wife: How ?

Question
What are the limits of the duties a wife must fulfill toward her husband so as to be considered doing an act of jihad in the cause of Allah ? ( Question By : Fatimah - Egypt )

Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

Thanks for your interesting question, and we implore Allah to inculcate love and affection among all Muslims husband and wives. Islam encourages both the husband and the wife to help each other live a happy and righteous life within the boundaries of Islam. The husband is required by Islam to treat his wife kindly, and by the same vein the wife is supposed to please her husband by all means possible. If the wife does so sincerely, then surely she is doing an act of jihad that is generously rewarded by Allah.

Responding to the question, the prominent Egyptian scholar Sheikh Muhammad Husain `Isa, states the following:

A woman can work a righteous deed that is equal in reward to jihad, Hajj, and zakah. This deed is illustrated in the hadith in which Asma’ bint Zayd Al-Ansariyah asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about deeds that women can perform and get rewards equal to those of jihad, hajj, and zakah, which were mostly performed by men. Upon that, Allah’s Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered her to tell all Muslim women that the wife’s fulfillment of her duties toward her husband had a reward equal to those of all the aforementioned righteous deeds. That was why Asma’ was called “Women’s Spokeswoman,” for she told the Prophet that all Muslim women wanted to ask him the same question and that she spoke on their behalf.

This shows the attitude of women during the lifetime of Allah’s Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). They were keen on competing with men for divine rewards and for attaining Allah’s pleasure, not for attaining higher positions or being superior to men at home, as do many women today. The main concern of those true Muslim women was to please Almighty Allah.

Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) guided Asma’ to a deed of great rewards, namely fulfilling her duties toward her husband. These duties are represented in being keen on pleasing her husband, being beautiful in his eyes, caring for him, serving him, assisting him, doing all that pleases him, and fulfilling all his demands.

Among these duties is also being keen on sexually satisfying him, meeting him with a smile and warm welcome when he comes back home from work; tidying the house for him to make him comfortable; preparing the best food for him; and neatening and glamorizing herself for him in their bedroom. In this way, the wife makes her husband attached to her and to their house and makes him disinterested in other women, thus preserving her his chastity and assisting him to be righteous and obedient to Almighty Allah.

Since this is a great deed, the wife’s reward is also great, as stated by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The wife’s reward for fulfilling her duties towards her husband is equal to those of fighting in the cause of Allah, performing hajj, and giving in charity seeking the pleasure of Almighty Allah, the Lord