“And of His signs is this, that He created mates for you from yourselves that you might find quiet of mind in them, and He put between you love and compassion” (30:21); “He it is Who created you from a single soul, and of the same did He make his mate, that he might find comfort in her” (7:189). The same idea is elsewhere very beautifully described in different words: “They (your wives) are an apparel for you and you are an apparel for them” (2:187). The closest union of two souls could not be described more aptly; yet Islām is a practical religion and it does not shut its eyes to the hard realities of life. It describes the home as a unit in the greater organization of a nation as a whole, and just as in the vaster national organization there is somebody to exercise the final authority in certain cases, so the smaller organization of the home cannot be maintained without a similar arrangement. Hence the husband is first spoken of as being “a ruler over the people of the house” and the wife is then described as “a ruler over the house of her husband and his children.” The home is thus a kingdom in miniature, where authority is exercised by both the husband and the wife. But unless one of them is given a higher authority, there would be chaos in this kingdom. The reason for giving the higher authority to the male parent is thus stated in the Holy Qur’ān: “Men are the maintainers of women, with what Allāh has made some of them to excel others, and with what they spend out of their wealth” (4:34). The Arabic word for maintainers is qawwāmūn, pl. of qawwām, derived from qāma, meaning he stood up, but when used with a bā or ‘alā, qāma carries the significance of maintaining or managing. Thus qāma bi-l-yatīm means he maintained the orphan, and qāma ‘alai-hā means he maintained the woman and managed her affair (LL.). The word qawwāmūn (maintainers) carries a double significance. It means that the husband provides maintenance for the wife, and also that he has final charge of the affairs of the home, thus exercising authority over the wife when there is need for it. The reason for giving a higher authority to man is contained in the word qawwāmūn itself. It is the man who can be entrusted with the maintenance of the family, and therefore it is he who must hold the higher authority.