Abeek, Thanks so much for giving us the Quranic reference. I myself am of the strong opinion that a husband deserves alot of respect , not bowing down at his feet , but yes he is incharge of the house and of the family, Whether we women like it or not , its the ultimate truth.
As far as respect is concerned , it does go both ways , if a wife gives proper respect to her husband , so does the husband to his wife … and vice versa … alot of us follow our parents examples in our future lives … and if we see our mothers and fathers disrespecting each other , we somehow cant imagine ourselves giving alot of respect to our spouses , as has been made evident by many comments here .
For some of you that think “aaph” is a title , let me correct you , its definitely not a title. In most educated and value oriented families , kids are taught to respect their elders , not just based on age but also their ranking in the family. Giving respect to someone , doesnt make us a slave to someone ,or doesnt make us any lower then the other person, rather it wins us back respect as well.