Here's a verse of the Quran which is sure to rock the Muslim male chauvinist boat!

2:223 states: "Your women are tilth unto you, so go into your tilth as you wish, and provide before hand for your souls. And be conscious of Allah and know that you are going to meet Him: and give glad tidings to those who believe."
Italics are mine.

The way I see it, there are two ways of looking at the word tilth.

• Plant your seed and estimate your prestige by the number of offspring you have. And when you are done with one piece of fertile land move on to the next till that also becomes fallow and so on and so on. The Saudi royal family, among others, comes to mind!

• Here's this farmer, with one piece of land, which he wishes to cultivate. He wants the best harvest, so he puts in endless hours ploughing and smoothening and fertilizing and planting and watering and weeding and hoeing and fertilizing some more and watering regularly. He is busy almost 24/7. He has to provide for every need, when it is needed, not when he happens to think about it.

Only then does the tilth produces a flourishing harvest that is a joy to behold. After putting in all this effort and tender loving care, with what heart will the farmer abandon his plot of land and move on to the next?
Can a "I love you" card on Valentine's Day match this for romance?

Remember I used the word 'need', not 'want'.

P.S.There is an authentic Hadith which states that a Muslim is allowed only three days of grieving for any loss. Except for a widow who should grieve for her husband, for the full 4 months and 10 days.
How many Muslim husbands deserve to be mourned this long? How many widows who do shed tears for fear of social stigma are not actually thinking "Good riddance to the big jerk"?
Is it any wonder this verse is never talked about in all the pious outpourings of the holy?