the benefit of what they earn. And for women is the benefit of what they earn” (4:32). She has full control over her property and can dispose of it as she likes: “But if they (the women) of themselves be pleased to give you a portion thereof (i.e., of their property), consume it with enjoyment” (4:4). Women can also inherit property as men can: “For men is a share of what the parents and the near relatives leave, and for women a share of what the parents and the near relatives leave” (4:7).
By entering the married state, a woman does not lose any of the rights which she possesses as an individual member of society. She is still free to carry on any work she likes, to make any contract she desires, to dispose of her property as she wishes; nor is her individuality merged in that of her husband. But she is at the same time recognized as undertaking new responsibilities of life, which carry with them new rights. The Holy Qur’ān settles the principle: “And women have rights similar to their obligations, in a just manner” (2:228). These are the rights and responsibilities of the home. Ḥadīth describes her position in the home as that of a rā‘īyah or ruler: “Every one of you is a ruler and every one shall be questioned about his subjects; the Amīr (the King) is a ruler, and the man is a ruler over the people of his house, and the woman is a ruler over the house of her husband and his children, so every one of you is a ruler and every one shall be questioned about his subjects” (Bu. 67:91). Thus so far as the home is concerned, the wife has the position of a ruler in it, the home being her territory. By marriage she is at once raised to a higher dignity and acquires new rights, though at the same time she incurs new responsibilities. Her rights as regards her husband are also affirmed in Ḥadīth, as the Holy Prophet said to ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Umar: “Thy body has a right over thee and thy soul has a right over thee and thy wife has a right over thee” (Bu. 67:90).
As already stated the mutual relation of husband and wife is described in the Holy Qur’ān as one of a single soul in two bodies: