Gender in Building Sakinah and Quality Family

Abstract

Islam as a manhaj or way of life clearly states the need to complement each other in the psychosocial realm in the form of a household as written in several verses of the Quran. The concept of a conventional family has a structure or pattern of relations where the husband is the provider and protector of his family (public), while the wife is a housewife who takes care of household affairs (domestic). Gender relations in the family refer to the relationship between husband and wife in relation to the division of roles. Within gender relations are aspects of gender roles that are based on the different expectations that individuals, groups and societies have based on their sex and also based on society's values and beliefs about gender. Knowledge of gender roles and relations in households focuses on how households can preserve, generate and diversify resources that must be relied on in times of crisis or extreme hardship. The construction of harmonious, sakinah, quality, equitable and gender- equal patterns of gender relations is realized if there is cooperation and equal and fair division of roles between husband and wife, which refers to the planning and implementation of family resource management, so that family members have a division of roles in various activities (domestic, public and community). High marital quality is associated with good adjustment, adequate communication, high levels of marital happiness, and high levels of marital satisfaction. Cooperation and communication make the division of domestic and public duties flexible. The existence of cooperation and optimal division of roles and duties between husband and wife in carrying out household activities can optimize family resilience so as to create a conducive quality of marriage. Well-implemented gender relations can shape the family to be more balanced and sakinah therefore sustainable family resilience can  be achieved.