One of the recognized and indisputable commandments of Islam is that
of marriage - the sacred union that takes place only between a man and a
woman. In relation to this revered bond, there are many verses of the
noble Quran and countless ahadith that encourage marriage for any single
man or woman - of any age or background. This is not only limited to
the young brothers and sisters who have never been married and are
looking for their life mate, but even those who have been through
divorce have also been encouraged to re-marry and to "complete" their
faith.
From the ocean of traditions and verses of the Quran on this topic, we quote the following:
وَأَنْكِحُوا الْأَيَامَىٰ مِنْكُمْ
وَالصَّالِحِينَ مِنْ عِبَادِكُمْ وَإِمَائِكُمْ ۚ إِنْ يَكُونُوا
فُقَرَاءَ يُغْنِهِمُ اللَّهُ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ
"Marry the single people from among you and the righteous
slaves and slave-girls. If you are poor, Allah (SwT) will make you rich
through His favour; and Allah (SwT) is Bountiful, All-Knowing." (Surah
24, Verse 32)
In this verse, Allah (SwT) commands us (by Him using the imperative form
of the verb) to marry the single, righteous man/woman from among us.
Allah (SwT) even gives us a guarantee that if we are poor or lack the
proper funds, still we should not delay the marriage as Allah will take
care of the couple and grant them bounties from His Grace and Mercy.
وَلْيَسْتَعْفِفِ الَّذِينَ لَا يَجِدُونَ نِكَاحًا حَتَّىٰ يُغْنِيَهُمُ اللَّهُ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ ۗ
"And let those who cannot find someone to marry maintain
chastity until Allah (SwT) makes them rich through His favours
..."(Surah 24, Verse 33)
In the continuation of Surah 24, in the above quoted verse, Allah
(SwT) commands the believers to remain chaste and faithful if they
cannot find a suitable spouse to marry until Allah (SwT) grants them
bounties out of His favors. Thus, one must not resort to evil, sin or
illicit sexual relationships because they cannot find a permanent
spouse.
One such avenue open to those who cannot afford to marry a woman in
Nikah, as the Quran has commanded us and the numerous ahadith from the
Prophet of Islam (S) and his 12th Infallible successors, the Aimmah (as)
have done is to perform the Muta and marry a man or woman in "temporary
marriage" so as to be able to fulfill our natural desires in a legal
and permitted means:
وَأُحِلَّ لَكُمْ مَا وَرَاءَ ذَٰلِكُمْ أَنْ
تَبْتَغُوا بِأَمْوَالِكُمْ مُحْصِنِينَ غَيْرَ مُسَافِحِينَ ۚ فَمَا
اسْتَمْتَعْتُمْ بِهِ مِنْهُنَّ فَآتُوهُنَّ أُجُورَهُنَّ فَرِيضَةً ۚ
وَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِيمَا تَرَاضَيْتُمْ بِهِ مِنْ بَعْدِ
الْفَرِيضَةِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ عَلِيمًا حَكِيمًا
"... and besides these, it is lawful for you to marry
other women if you pay them their dowry, maintain chastity and do not
commit indecency. So those (women) whom you marry for an appointed time,
you must give them their agreed upon dowries. There is no harm if you
reach an understanding among yourselves about the dowry, Allah (SwT) is
All-Knowing and All-Wise." (Surah 4, Verse 24)
This is a commandment from Allah (SwT) which was not only mentioned
in the Quran, but which He commanded his last and greatest Prophet (S)
to convey to the Ummah, which can never be made forbidden by anyone as
that which Muhammad (S) has made halal is halal until the Day of
Judgement and that which he has made haram will remain haram until the
Day of
Judgement.
In another verse of the Quran, Allah (SwT) compares the husband and wife to garments for one another:
هُنَّ لِبَاسٌ لَكُمْ وَأَنْتُمْ لِبَاسٌ لَهُنَّ ۗ
"They (your wives) are a clothing (covering) for you and you too are a clothing (covering) for them." (Surah 2, Verse187)
In our day-to-day life, we see many uses for clothing. Not only does
our dress act as a beautification for ourselves, but it also covers any
defects that we may have on our physical body - thus, if a person has a
scar or burn mark on his body, the clothing will cover this from others
around him and thus, they would not know that he has such a physical
'defect'.
The husband and wife are to play the same role in relation to one
another. If the wife has spiritual defects or lacks something in her
character, then the husband must cover these up and not expose her
shortcomings to others. The wife too, must cover up and hide her
husband's deficiencies and weaknesses and protect her mate. Not only has
Allah (SwT) commanded the believers not to make fun of one another and
not to mock or ridicule others, but they are also supposed to protect
the honour and integrity of one another.
In the 30th Surah of the Quran, ar-Rum, Allah (SwT) tells us that:
وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ أَنْ خَلَقَ لَكُمْ مِنْ
أَنْفُسِكُمْ أَزْوَاجًا لِتَسْكُنُوا إِلَيْهَا وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَكُمْ
مَوَدَّةً وَرَحْمَةً ۚ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِقَوْمٍ
يَتَفَكَّرُونَ
"And one of His signs is that He has created for you,
spouses from amongst yourselves so that you might take comfort in them
and He has placed between you, love and mercy. In this there is surely
evidence (of the truth) for the people who carefully think." (Surah 30,
Verse 21)
In this verse we see that Allah (SwT) regards the creation of spouses
- the husband and wife - as a sign of His greatness. Not only has Allah
(SwT) created these two individuals, but in order for there to be peace
and harmony between the two of them, He himself has placed love and
mercy between them so that they can live a life of tranquility.
In Surah al-Nisa, verse 1, Allah (SwT) addresses all of mankind - Muslim, Christian, Jew, Non-Believer - by stating:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُوا رَبَّكُمُ
الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ مِنْ نَفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ وَخَلَقَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا
وَبَثَّ مِنْهُمَا رِجَالًا كَثِيرًا وَنِسَاءً ۚ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ
الَّذِي تَسَاءَلُونَ بِهِ وَالْأَرْحَامَ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ
عَلَيْكُمْ رَقِيبًا
"O' mankind! Have consciousness of your Lord who has
created you from a single soul. From it He created your spouse and
through them He populated the land with many men and women. Have
spiritual awareness of the One by whose Name you swear to settle your
differences and have respect for the wombs that bore you. Without doubt,
Allah (SwT) keeps watch over you all."(Surah 4, Verse 1)
Again in this verse of the Quran, we are once again reminded that it
is Allah (SwT) who created mankind and then made its spouse and through
these two has the world become populated. It goes without saying that it
is only through the natural act of marriage between a man and woman
that children can be brought into this world as all others forms of
"marriage" are deviations that can never produce a child and thus, an
increase in the population.
The noble ahadith are also replete with traditions narrated from the
Prophet (S) and his immediate successors, some of which we present
below.
قالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيهِ
وَآلِهِ وَسَلّمَ): مِنْ سُنَّتِي أَلتَّزْوِيجُ فَمَنْ رَغِبَ عَنْ
سُنَّتِي فَلَيْسَ مِنِّي.
The Messenger of Allah (S) has said, "Of my tradition is to
marry. So then whoever turns away from my tradition (Sunnah) is not from
me (my nation)."
In this famous tradition mentioned in all books of Islamic narration,
the Prophet (S) clearly spelled it out to the believers that in order
to stay on his path which is the true path of salvation, we must marry -
not only the youth who are getting married for the first time - but
also older people who may have divorced or lost a spouse must also marry
in order to remain on the Sunnah of the Prophet (S).
قالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيهِ
وَآلِهِ وَسَلّمَ): ما بُنِيَ بِناءَ فِي الإِسْلامِ أَحَبُّ إِلى اللهِ
عَزَّ وَجَلّ مِنَ التَّزْوِيجِ.
The Messenger of Allah (S) has said, "There is no foundation that
has been built in Islam more loved by Allah, (The Greatest and Noblest)
than marriage."
This hadith shows us the great importance that Allah (SwT) and His
Messenger (S) have placed on marriage, such that it is the most loved
foundation or establishment upon which the Muslim man and woman can
build their life upon. If such a foundation is built with love, honesty,
sincerity and true faith in Allah (SwT) and all that He has commanded,
then there is nothing that could destroy such a firm building.
عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللهِ (عَلَيْهِ السَّلامُ):
جاءَ رَجُلٌ إِلى أَبِي فَقالَ لَهُ: هَلَ لَكَ زَوْجَةٌ؟ قالَ لا. قالَ
(عَلَيهِ السَّلامُ): لا أُحِبُّ أَنّ لِيَ الدُّنْيا وَما فِيها وَإِنِّي
أُبِيتُ لَيْلَةً لَيْسَ لِي زَوْجَةٌ.
It has been narrated from Abi Abdillah that, "A man once came to
my father. My father asked him, "Are you married?" The man replied,
'No.' My father (as) replied, 'I would not love to have the world and
all that is contained within it if it meant I had to spend one night
without a woman (beside me).'"
This saying from our sixth Imam (as) shows the importance that the
rightful successors of the Prophet (S) placed on marriage. In this
hadith, we are told that the Imam (as) would not even trade all the
beauties and material treasures that exist in the world, if it means
that he had to spend even one night alone! This may point to the fact
that the evil whisperings of Shaitan may penetrate a single man or woman
to go towards the prohibited and thus, contaminate his or her faith and
belief.
*****
وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ أَنْ خَلَقَ لَكُمْ مِنْ
أَنْفُسِكُمْ أَزْوَاجًا لِتَسْكُنُوا إِلَيْهَا وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَكُمْ
مَوَدَّةً وَرَحْمَةً ۚ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِقَوْمٍ
يَتَفَكَّرُونَ
"And of His signs is that He has created spouses for
yourselves from your own selves so you might take comfort in them and He
has created love and mercy among both of you. In this there is evidence
(of the truth) for the people who (carefully) think." (Surah 30, Verse
21).
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