He must strive with sincerity to acquire her trust...

He must strive with sincerity to acquire her trust, and seek her welfare in all the actions that pertain to her. 8. He must treat her generously at all times. The Prophet (PBUH&HP) said that the best gift is that spent on one’s wife. 9. If she works outside the house, it is praiseworthy for the husband to hire house help to relieve her from too heavy a burden. 10. He must avoid excessive jealousy and remember that Allah is also jealous that he himself does not commit.

Imam Ali (PBUH) said: “Do not be excessively jealous of your wife lest evil be hurled at her on your account”.(6) 11. He must protect her honour and not place her in situations where it is compromised or belittled. The Prophet (PBUH&HP) said that Allah will not ever let him enter Paradise who cares little and shares his wife’s privacy. This includes the husband’s brother, uncle, and nephew, let alone non-related friends, neighbours, and complete strangers. 12.

He must exercise patience and forgiveness in the case of disagreement or dispute, and not rush to divorce. The declaration of divorce is a grave matter indeed, and Imam Jafar Al-Sadiq (PBUH) said: “Of permitted matters, the most loathe some before Allah is divorce”.(7) In another hadith the Prophet (PBUH&HP) said that “divorce is so grave that because of it Allah’s throne is made to shake”(IBID).

He also said: “The best intercession [intervention of a third party] is that which brings back together the husband and the wife”(IBID). Womanizing — divorce for the purpose of marrying another woman out of sexual attraction incurs Allah’s curse according to the hadith: “Allah’s curse is on the womanizing, divorcing man” (IBID).

Finally, even in the midst of and after divorce, Allah has prescribed kindness upon the woman: “(After pronouncing divorce) then [let there be] either an honourable retention or a kindly release “.(8) 13. He must not dwell on what he dislikes in his wife, but on what he likes. 14. The husband is not to stay away from his wife or keep his wife in a state of suspense, whether at home or abroad, for a protracted period of time except with her consent.

Allah said:”…Yet do not turn away from one altogether, leaving her as if in a suspense.