format_quote Originally Posted by
greenhill
Did you know the reason women grew long nails and painting them was to indicate that they do not do house work :exhausted ...
:shade:
(smile) I've seen village girls who haul buckets of water, hand-wash clothes, hoe the garden, milk the cows… and they like to paint their nails. Admittedly, long nails don't work too well in these conditions, but they would like them if they could. They paint their nails because they think it makes their nails prettier.
As for housework, according to rulings by all 4 madhaahib (schools of Islamic Law), this is
not mandatory on the woman. It is a sadaqa she does for her family. Some have argued that her
obligation to housework is implicit in her marriage because of prevailing social norms, but this is, in my opinion, a weak argument, and a dangerous one, too. Because it opens the door to
all social norms as over-riders of Islamic ideas.
Basically, I think we have to look towards justice and kindness to illuminate our understandings. If a husband and wife want to build a good family, they are going to have to mutually agree on how to do this. I know of too many families where the husband is un- or under-employed, while the wife not only does all the housework and child raising (which is
hard!), but she also is working part- or full-time outside the home. One friend is also studying! And yet the husbands feel it is their "Islamic right" to do little or nothing to contribute to the family!
This is obviously
not Islamic. The husband has a duty to provide for the needs of his family. A wife has the duty to fulfil his sexual needs. Outside of this, we should behave
bi-
lma'rouf, that is, with equity, kindness and politeness.
And therefore, it seems to me, the exact tasks each member of the couple performs is going to vary from case to case, according to circumstances.
May Allah Help us Search His Will with sincerity.