Help me shift my mindset on intimacy and respect for my husband
Assalamu alaikum, I’m really in need of sincere advice-please keep it kind, I’m not looking for harsh words. I’m trying to stop seeing my role as a wife in Islam as just being about physical intimacy. It feels like there’s a huge focus on how I must always be ready for my husband (except during illness or menses). Don’t get me wrong, I have no issue with being close to my spouse, but the way hadith talk about it makes it seem like it’s the biggest thing a wife can offer. I do get that it matters a lot. But sometimes I feel reduced to that one thing, and I end up bitter. I won’t say it’s like being objectified, but something close. It makes me think men are wired to want intimacy way more than I can ever grasp. And I feel there’s no room for me to have my own take or feelings, especially since for me, intimacy is very emotional and personal. Another thing: there’s so much stress on a husband’s rights, how a wife must seek his happiness and that this is her path to jannah, even the famous hadith about prostration (I’m summarizing, and I know it’s not literally allowed). I respect, obey, and love my spouse, but I don’t get why I need to hold him in such sky-high regard. It’s like he brings a lot to our life, but I bring just as much. We’ve been together for years and I really see him as an equal, yet I’m told to treat him like royalty. I could understand this for parents, who sacrificed decades raising me, but for my husband? I pour so much into his life too. Please, help me change how I look at this. I want to accept what Allah has ordered with a full heart, but it’s so hard right now.