Courtesy with the Wife

We will now speak about courtesy with the wife since we are still tackling the issue of courtesy in the home.

For example, we have all seen how in foreign films and serials, if the husband is having dinner with his wife, he cuts a piece of the meat and puts it in his wife's mouth using his fork. The youth in particular, like this and say, “How romantic!”. We grow up imitating theses dealings pretending modernity through imitating Europeans, and we forget that what our Prophet taught us. To whom will you now refer?

There is another problem. Many homes are broken and the couples split up right before marriage because of problems that arise while setting the basics for a married life. We find that either the bride’s family is excessive and extravagant in their requirements, or that the groom does not want to provide his wife with the same standard of living she is used to so the marriage fails. Look at the Prophet’s (PBUH) courtesy in such cases.

The Prophet (PBUH) married his wives and all of them lived beside Prophet’s (PBUH) mosque in Madinah in the desert, which his wives were all used to. When the Prophet (PBUH) married Maria the Egyptian, from the land of greenery and the Nile (this is the Prophet (PBUH) the leader who is responsible for this message and for teaching the Qur’an, and to guide the companions and to undertake night prayers, yet he still notices these small elements of courtesy). So he does not house Maria with his other wives, instead he provides a home for her in an area named the Awaly as it is a green area. Can you see this detailed attention and courtesy in his dealings with his wife? He could have easily made her live with his other wives but he didn’t.

To be continued