Imam Khamenei's Counsel to Wives

-The jihad of a woman is simply to provide the means of relaxation for the man. When a man returns home tired, exhausted, and ill-mannered sometimes –and these ill manners, fatigue, and restlessness which arise from the work atmosphere become apparent at home- [then] in this situation if this wife wants to [perform] jihad, then her jihad is to deal with these ordeals and to endure them [to become] close to Allah. This is being a good wife to the husband.

-Your marital life is not a just a simple marital life, but it is also a sphere of service. This is why you should be sure of Allah's reward and you should also value this opportunity.

-The woman is the one who preserves the family and manages it. She is the main member in the construction of the family- not the man- because if the woman were rational, understanding, a manager of matters, and an excellent housewife, she can preserve the family if the man is absent for any reason. As for the man, he is not able to preserve the structure of the family if the woman is absent, and this is why Islam [is] concerned with the role of a woman inside the family.

-A woman's value lies in her ability to transform her living atmosphere- for herself and her husband and children- to a Heaven, a school, a safe atmosphere, and an ascent toward [bodies of] knowledge and spiritual ranks.

-The best way to raise children is to raise them in the embraces of their mothers which are filled with love, tenderness, and compassion. Those who deprive their children of this love and tenderness have moved away from the right path, because depriving a child doesn't harm the child alone- it also harms the entire society, and Islam doesn't allow this.

-If the woman in our society is able to acquire from the knowledge and spiritual and ethical perfections which Allah and the Divine Messages specified for all humans- men and women alike- then rearing children will improve, the family atmosphere will become more warm and pure, and society will progress and become able to solve life-problems more easily and thus both the man and the woman will become happy.

-If a man is engaged in a knowledge or jihad activity, or to provide his sustenance, or in general activities, then the woman should make the home's atmosphere [in a way which] aids [the husband] in going to his work with high spirits and returning home with yearning.