"O Great God! grant that mutual love may reign between this couple, as it existed between Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Joseph and Zalikha, Moses and Zipporah, his highness Mohammed and Ayishah, and his highness Ali al-Murtaza and Fatimatu'z-Zahra." HUSBAND AND WIFE.--A husband is not guardian over his wife any further than respects the rights of marriage, nor does the provision for her rest upon him any further than with respect to food, clothing and lodging. A husband must reside equally with each of his wives, unless one wife bestow her right upon another wife. A wife cannot give evidence in a court of law against her husband. If she becomes a widow she must observe mourning for the space of four months and ten days. In the event of her husband's death a wife is entitled to a portion of her husband's estate, in addition to her claim of dower, the claim of dower taking precedence of all other claims on the estate. "The women," says the Koran, "ought to behave toward their husbands in like manner as their husbands toward them, according to what is just." When the husband has left the place of conjugal domicile without making any arrangements for his wife's support, the judge is authorized by law to make an order that her maintenance shall be paid out of any fund or property which the husband may have left in deposit or in trust, or invested in any trade or business. When a woman abandons the conjugal domicile without any valid reason, she is not entitled to maintenance from her husband. The Mohammedan law lays down distinctly that a wife is bound to live with her husband, and to follow him wherever he wishes to go; and that on her refusing to do so without sufficient or valid reason, the courts of justice, on a suit for restitution of conjugal rights by the husband, would order her to live with her husband. The obligation of the wife, however, to live with her husband is not absolute. The law recognizes circumstances which justify her refusal to live with him. Although the condition of women under Mohammedan law is most unsatisfactory, it must be admitted that Mohammed effected a vast and marked improvement in the condition of the female population of Arabia. Amongst the Arabs who inhabited the peninsula of Arabia the condition of women was extremely degraded, for amongst the pagan Arabs a woman was a mere chattel. The Koran created a great reformation in the condition of women. For the first time in the history of Oriental legislation the principle of equality between the sexes was approached. DIVORCE.--The Mohammedan law of divorce is founded upon express injunctions contained in the Koran, as well as in the Traditions, and its rules occupy an important part of all Mohammedan works on jurisprudence. These rules may be summarized thus: The thing which is lawful but disliked by God is divorce. A husband may divorce his wife without any misbehaviour on her part, or without assigning any cause.