Makkah

MANY of us have wives who work. Sometimes, men know in advance before marriage that the women they wish to marry have work to go to. At other times, wives decide to find work after marriage to help their husbands provide for the family.

I do not talk here about the right of women to work. This issue has been discussed many a time. However, I have noticed that some couples get divorced because the wife works. Sometimes things get out of hand and both the husband and wife get stubborn about work; the husband does not want his wife to go to work while the wife insists on her right to do so.

The husband should not become stubborn about it and should think reasonably. After all, he had agreed to get married to a workingwoman and he has to bear the consequences of this decision. Besides, he should have asked about the nature of his wife’s work and gotten used to it.

The husband has no right to force his wife to quit her job because she has worked hard to get the job and exerted great efforts to retain it. It is not his right to destroy his wife’s future at the blink of an eye just because he can no longer come in terms with his wife’s work or because some of his family members have convinced him that he should make her quit her job.

The working wife should balance her duties at work and at home. After all, she is responsible for her family. I am not saying that she should be blamed alone or should bear the burdens of family alone. No, she and her husband are both partners in this.

This is an important issue. Each man and woman who is engaged to be married should discuss this issue instead of spending most of their time at restaurants or exchanging gifts. They should build a strong foundation for the future and realize the circumstances and conditions of each other’s jobs. If they do not discuss it now, their marriage will end shortly after it begins.