Wednesday, 8 June 2016

Thoughts about early marriage

In our modern society, most of us, even the older generations would be against early marriage. Early marriage in a way that we are either too young for that, or it is too early for the both of the parties to settle down due to the period of time they both known each other.
Why? Because all of us are worried that we are not able to commit especially on finances and the extra responsibility we all have to bear. Another reason is because they fear that flaws are revealed and that they could not accommodate to each other's lifestyle. The last reason could be because they are too young to get married. Now lets look at this reason one at a time:

1. All of us are worried that we are not able to commit especially on finances and the extra responsibility we all have to bear.
Islam highly recommends Muslims to have an early marriage. Even those who feel they would not be able to bear the extra expenses they have to commit for the family, they are strongly urged to repose their faith to Allah SWT, for He is the Giver of Sustenance (Rezeki) and go for an early marriage, which leads to our first question: "If you are not ready, why did you choose to take a step ahead with your partner?" This has become a main issue in our parents, because they fear that the man could not afford to take care of their daughter's well being. In Islamic perspective, it is a very sad case that parents avoid looking at it in a different perspective. The boundaries between modern and religious laws have become blurred, which resulted in the justification of practise.
'When you know both partners are fated to be together, you get the Nikah done. You delay them, you are sinful.'- Ismail ibn Musa Menk. What does he mean by that when our purpose of delaying the marriage is good? It is simply to ensure that both parties do not fall into sins. If a father calls himself a guardian to his daughter, then it is one of his duties to make sure she does not fall into sin by laying out his absurd demands of a man to help her find for a proper husband. Filled by love of the Dunya, many families will only choose to marry their daughter to a rich man with a PhD, or the least, a Diploma holder with a stable job. Pity any men who are not able to meet these requirements. Whatever status they have, whoever they came from, all men have the right to get married if they have attained the age of fifteen and baligh. Apart from that, a husband has to be Rashid and a wife Rashidah so that the responsibilities of married life are sensibly discharged. Also, some families place a huge restrictions on their daughters, which creates a terrible barrier in getting young woman married, as it makes it impossible for them to find someone that is perfect in her family's eyes. Surely, we all have flaws. A man is a mixture of two: both angelic and earthly creations, both high and low. Enormous dowries is another issue that is fitnah and it has been condemned in the Hadith. The Prophet (s) said: "The best of women...are those who ask for low dowries." and Imam as-Sadiq states: "The blessed of women are those who ask for small living expenses, and the evil of them are those who are demanding in terms of living expenses." 
Asking for huge dowries are haraam, and what's interesting is that the daughter will not have any interest in asking for large dowry, instead she will ask for something extremely small, or even want to wave it altogether. The dowries will only exist among her family. This is for the sake of their appearance in the community. Some families would even go to the extend of making their daughter choose between her husband-to-be and her family, where they will make any manners of threat about what will happen if she choose to carry on with the marriage without their blessings. Indeed, who are we that our family must demand for huge dowries when we're a slave to Allah as well? When I think about 'relationship', I would always refer to this citation:
'The Prophet (s) said in a khutbah: "Jibra'il came to me from the Subtle and Aware one [Allah (swt)], and said: "Indeed, virgin girls are like fruit on a tree. When you take the fruit from a tree, then you do not have to fear that the sun will spoil it or that the wind will scatter it away. Similar is the case when a women is taken in the way that they are taken [meaning marriage]. There is no remedy for this problem except that they take a husband, and if they do not, then one will have to fear that they will become corrupted."'

2. They fear that flaws are revealed and that they could not accommodate to each other's lifestyle.
The Messenger of Islam (S.A.W.) said, "Do not marry a woman for the following four reasons: Wealth, beauty, ancestry and lust. It is obligatory upon you to marry a woman on account of her religion." (Jaame ul Akhbar). He has also prohibited his followers from marrying a beautiful woman from a disgraceful background. To get a 'perfect' man in Islamic views, one has to understand the meaning of what is meant by a perfect man. If we do not know and learn the Islamic definition of a perfect human being, we cannot become a perfect Muslim ourselves. There are two ways of knowing if one is a perfect person: one is to refer to our Holy Quran, and the other on our Hadiths to explain the best practising of a perfect Muslims. This means that one should know his personality, and not him as a person (his family background, his birthdate, his looks, etc). It is a mistake to view that the spirit is dependant on our physical looks or body.

3. They are too young to get married.
What families are more concerned of is their daughter's education and work life, than their spiritual life. They fear that when they marry at an early age, their children will not be able to complete their education. Even if this is true, the explanation is not valid to get the Nikah done for a 'halal' relationship, as this will put more pressure in both parties to fornicate. The truth is, it is not true when girls are to get married, they will somehow fail in life if they were to get married at an early age. One can balance the demands of their marital life as well as her educational/ professional life, in fact they are encouraged to do so. Commitments and responsibilities wise have already been explained on my first reason. Since puberty marks the onset of developing sexual urges, the messenger of Islam (S.A.W.) encouraged young people to get married. According to Hadith volume 7, Book 62, Number 74, he said, "O young people! Whoever among you can marry, should marry...". The interpretation of the Prophet's advice did not mention any specific age, but marriage partners are supposed to have reached mental maturity. However, puberty does not equates to maturity. Books of Islamic law can be referred to for exact details on physical and mental maturity.

However, as an individual who does not have the mindset of marriage, one should definitely not force themselves for early marriage. This is just to convince young people about their doubts on settling down. Surely, Islam is not a limited religion; there is no restrictions in any case in which a human get suffer from it.
Hazrat Muhammad (S.A.W.) said "O young people! Let those of you who afford marriage get married as it will help them lower their gaze and protect their chastity.
And for Those who don't afford it, they may fast for it will curb the sexual desire." (Al-Bukhari and Muslim from Ibn Mas'ud).
Hence, when one is ready and portrays enough mature level that one can decide for themselves and take care of children, then both should get married without delay.

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