Duties of the Husband (Father):

	To treat his wife with kindness and respect.
	To provide his wife and family with food, shelter, clothing, and other necessities.
	To fulfill his role as Father to his children.
	To consult his wife before making any major family decisions.

Duties of the Wife (Mother):

	To treat her husband with kindness and a respect
	To keep, protect and guard her husband’s secrets, their marital privacy, and her husband’s property.
	To manage household affairs.
	To fulfill her role as Mother to her children.
	To abide by any decisions made by her husband, after consultation.

"And we have enjoined upon man to be good to his parents. With difficulty upon difficulty did his mother bear him and wean him for two ears. Show gratitude to Me and to your parents; to Me your final goal."

A Muslim mother is available to her child. A Muslim father is available to his child. We know that with parent-child attachment comes the emotional security that is necessary for developing a healthy inner self-confidence. The message we want to get across to our children is, "If you have a problem, come to me. If you are afraid, tell me about it. If you are lonely, I am here."

As Muslims, we want to create a strong emotional bond with our children that will last into our old age, when we will become dependent upon our children to take care of us, as Islam demands. We definitely do not want to give our children the message that we were not available when they needed us.

Be available for your Children

Let them know that you are there for anything they want to discuss. If you are not available to talk to your children, somebody else probably will be, and it may be the wrong kind of person. A good way of getting to know your children better as individuals is to take them out one at a time for eating, conversation, or some other event.

Be available for your Parents

In today’s rapid-paced life, we often tend to get so busy that we forget our parents’ rights.  Family values have significantly dropped in our lives, and our friends often become more important to us than our own relatives.

What better can emphasize the good treatment of our parents than the following verse from the Qur’an (interpretation of the meaning) "And your Lord has commanded that you shall not serve (any) but Him, and goodness to your parents. If either or both of them reach old age with you, say not to them (so much as) "Ugh" nor rebuke them, and speak to them in honorable terms" [Qur'an Al-Israa 17:23]. There are two noteworthy conclusions that may be noticed from this verse.  First, Allah the Exalted has called for good treatment of parents immediately after ordering us to worship Him. This proves the importance of being kind to our parents and the elevated status in which Allah (SWT) has placed parents in our lives.  Second, He has ordered us not to utter even the least of inappropriate comments to them; thus it is very surprising that some people yell at their parents or even tell them to shut up.

Furthermore, when Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) was asked which deed was the best, he replied: “The prayer at its appointed hour”. He was asked: “Then what?”, to which he replied: “Kindness to the parents”. Again he was asked: “Then what?”.  He replied: “Earnest struggle (Jihad) in the cause of Allah" [Muslim]

A man came to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and said, "O Messenger of Allah, may I take part in Jihad?" He asked , "Do you have parents?" He replied, "Yes". He said, "So strive for them." (Abu Dawud) In another hadeeth , a man migrated to the Messenger of Allah from Yemen. He asked, "Are any of your relatives in Yemen?" He replied, "My parents." He (PBUH) asked, "Did they permit you to come?" he replied, "No". He said, "Go back to them and ask for their permission. If they permit you, then come, otherwise be devoted to them." (Abu Dawud).