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In Islam, a marriage is a Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad Pbuh. Muslims print ‘النیکاح من سننتی’ (Al-Nikah u Min Sunnati) on the wedding cards. It means Nikah is one among Prophet's Sunnah. There is a reward for every Sunnah performed, therefore, there is a reward for Nikah also. Both the bride and the bridegroom are rewarded for performing the Sunnah of Nikah. No hypocrisy can be accepted in Nikah, Allah the Exalted says in the Holy Quran: “And We created you in pairs.” - (An-Naba - 8) They are clothing for you and you are clothing for them. (Al-Baqarah: 187) Both these verses are a clear pointer to the fact that marriage is a solemn affair. Islam takes husbands and wives as the ones who guard each other’s honour against the world. They are made for each other. They are enjoined to be husband and wife by Allah, the Almighty in heaven.
It is a common humane sense that any kind of hypocrisy and force is unacceptable where there is a solemnity in the obeyance of the command of Allah, the Creator of the universe.
There is no relationship as beautiful as that of a husband and a wife. Although every bit of happening in the universe is decided in heavens but for marriages, it is specifically said that ' marriages are decided in heaven. The status of marriage in the eyes of Allah is clear from the verse, ‘He created for you mates from among yourselves, that ye may dwell in tranquillity with them, and He has put love and mercy between your (hearts) . . . " (Ar-Rum: 21). Allah has made marriage a source of tranquillity and peace between a husband and a wife. The ‘peace and tranquillity Allah has bestowed upon the married couple cannot be achieved with force. The pious institution of marriage bears the responsibility of creating a pious society that carries love, affection and care for all.
Marriage is a divine institution and it is encouraged by Islam. No force, therefore, can be allowed by any means or excuse. According to Islam, a husband is a protector of his wife. A husband is responsible for his wife’s physical and emotional wellbeing. Someone who has forced his wife into marriage cannot fulfil the responsibilities of a husband, therefore, there is no place for forced marriage in Islam.
Marriages are not confined to the relationship of two persons but it concerns two families and in extension to the concerned society. In the Islamic essence, marriages are a social bond of two people living together and forming a family unit. For the success of this social agreement, it is necessary for both parties to be willing and thus trusting each other. Islamic ethic allows both the parties (the boy and the girl) to meet and talk to each other, in presence of an elder of whichever side, he or she may. Islam understands the need for two people to agree to live together before they are bound in an agreement.
Allah has granted more power to a girl before the Nikah is performed and equal status after the marriage. More power before the Nikah as the Nikah Khwan (the performer of Nikah) goes to the girl with two witnesses each from both sides and after reading out the full detail of the boy (father’s name, address, the Mehr amount, the names and addresses of the witnesses) asks her whether she is allowing him to perform Nikah, on her free will, with the boy or not. Nikah Khwan and the witnesses must listen to her ‘yes’, so she is asked to speak loudly. ٰIt is mandatory.
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