Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V (may Allah be his Helper) drew the attention of men and women towards their religious obligations in his address on 4 September 2004 at Jalsa Salana Switzerland. In this regard, Huzoore Anwer spoke about domestic issues and said:
“Allah the Exalted states that another sign of believers is that they must exercise patience. There are many occasions in life, such as loss in business transaction, theft or burglary, etc. or when the husband finds himself in a financially unstable position, and is unable to provide spending money to his wife according to her needs, in such situations, certain women create uproar and cause a ruckus and start fighting with their husbands. They raise their demands to such heights that the husband is unable to meet the financial burden. I am not saying that in every such situation it is the husband who is right whereas the wife is wrong. In certain cases, women are in the right as well. However, I am talking about those women a majority of whom are demanding. Such situations result in constant conflict, argument, quarrel and dispute in the household. Or there are situations where due to the unfair demands husbands lose their way and when bickering is going on, they can wrongly become violent towards their wives. Or, in order to meet the pressure of undue demands from their wives, some men take on debt, due to which the entire household comes under the grip of a vicious cycle. When the creditors demand their money back, the husband tries to make excuses and hence a series of lies ensues. When the husband is unable to pay the debts, he gets easily irritated and is harsh towards the children, in turn children feel extremely disturbed. Such a vicious cycle sets into motion when unnecessary burden is placed on a man and patience is not exercised in face of difficult situations. What eventuates is that children from such households look for comfort outside their homes and slowly disassociate themselves from their parents. This is the root cause that gives rise to social evils, and by the time the parents come to their senses, it is often too late. Therefore, it is stated that faith will be strengthened only when patience is practiced at all times.”
(Address delivered to ladies on 4 September 2004 at Jalsa Salana Switzerland. Published in Al Fazl International 7 January 2005)