Being a husband is a great blessing that many dream of. As a husband you have different rights in Islam. Some of these rights are the same as which the wife is entitled to.
In this article you will find out about the rights of the husband. These include love, obedience, and respectful treatment.
This is the most important right in any marriage. Without this part, a marriage will collapse. The husband is entitled to love from his wife. Love comes in different forms.
For example, the man is entitled to attention and loving words. Of course this differs for every man, but it must remain reasonable.
Another form of love is intimacy. If the man wants to be intimate, his wife should comply. This also applies when she is busy. Rejecting intimacy is a great sin in Islam. The man is not supposed to force his wife to be intimate with him. That is forbidden in Islam.
Every person has the right to respectful treatment. The wife must treat her husband with respect. This means that she forgives his mistakes, speaks to him kindly and respects his rules.
Of course, there will be times when both of them do not treat each other respectfully. Those moments arise from disagreements, misunderstandings and quarrels. In order to rebuild the marriage, the aim is for both to condone each other's imperfections.
The man should be addressed respectfully. It is a form of Sunnah for the wife to treat her husband as a leader, looking up to him, respecting him and supplicating for him.
Another right of the man is to be obeyed. There are, of course, exceptions to this. For example, he should not be obeyed when he wants her to disobey Allah.
Another exception is when the husband asks his wife about unrealistic issues. Think, for example, of performing deeds that a human cannot do.
Obedience is only in the good. The husband should therefore not burden his wife with matters that she cannot handle.
Likewise, he cannot ask her to perform tasks that do not fall within her duties. Think, for example, of cooking, cleaning up, washing dishes, etc. These are not duties of the wife, and therefore she is not obliged to obey in this regard.
The man has a right to protection of his property when he is not there. He entrusts this to his wife, who then has to guard it.
For example, think of his clothes, furniture and everything he owns. The wife should look after this, and she is entrusted to this.
The house belongs to the husband. He decides who enters it. If the husband does not want a specific person to enter his house, then the wife must prevent this.
These unwanted guests may even be relatives. The wife should not let these guests enter the house if the husband rejects.
The Prophet (ﷺ) said:
"As for your rights over your wives, they must not let anyone you dislike land on your bedding (furniture) nor enter your home."
[Sunan Tirmidhi 1163 (Hasan Sahih)]
The man has the right to have multiple wives. This is also known as polygamy. This right is only possible when the man can handle it financially, emotionally and physically. And if he fears to treat his wives unjustly, then he must marry one wife.
This right is described in a verse of the Quran. Moreover, it is also an act of Sunnah. However, it is a big responsibility that not every man can handle.
And if you fear that you cannot deal justly with the (female) orphans (in their right to a dowry), then marry (other) women of your choice, two or three or four, but if you fear that you cannot treat them fairly, then only one or what your right hands possess. This way you avoid acting unjustly.
[4:3 Quran]
Abu Athari writes about basic principles within Islam. He uses his critical and well-researched way to spread knowledge of the first three Muslim generations.
Do you have questions that came to mind while reading our pages? Or do you have general questions that you would like an answer to? We answer you within 48 hours.
Ask question
