Importance Of Marriage

We shall finish everything inshAllah soon. One hadith that I want to share with you is the hadith from Rasul Allah salla Allahu 'alayhi wa alihi wa sallam [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammadin wa ali Muhammad]. "Man ahabba an yalqa Allah tahiran mutahharran fal yalqahu bi zawjah". Whoever wants to meet Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala while he is 'tahir' and 'Mutahhar'- he is pure and purified. If you want to meet Allah with purity, with spiritual cleanliness, then you must meet Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala, with your wife, with your spouse.' Even when Adam 'alayhi as-salam was asked to go to that garden which is not eternal garden, but anyway was a blessed place, Allah said to enter with your wife, he did not go alone.

So from Islamic perspective, we know that purity is the highest achievement. Allah is the purest of the pure and whoever wants to get higher in the ranks should be trying to seek purity. We have the concept of 'Mutatahir'. For example, Allah says about Masjid Quba: "fihi rijjalun yuhibbuna an yatatahharu" (9:108). Allah praises Masjid al-Quba because inside that masjid there are people who seek purity. Marriage is a way to seek purity and to be able to get closer to Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala who is the purest of the pure.

In another hadith, Rasul Allah salla Allahu 'alayhi wa alih wa sallam said, "ma buniya fi al-Islami bina'un ahabba ila Allah 'azza wa jal wa a'azza min al-Tazwij", very famous hadith. 'In Islam, no construction has ever been built'; there are tens of thousands of mosques built, schools, hospitals, madrasahs, houses, bridges, roads, many constructions have been built in Islam, but Rasul Allah said, 'None of the constructions which are built in Islam are dearer to Allah more lovable to Allah than marriage' [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa Aali Muhammad wa ajjal farajahum].

It means family is our most sacred institution. If we have family strong in our community, we will have other things as well. But if we do not marry so that we do not form families, or if we marry and then quickly separate and families break down, all other things will collapse. So the foundation of Islamic way of life is family. Not only biologically we need father and mother, but spiritually, culturally, we need a strong family.

If today anyone wants to do something which we can be 100% sure it is Islamic, it is making Rasul Allah happy, Imam az-Zaman happy [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa Aali Muhammad wa ajjal farajahum], is to help people form family, to marry, and remain together as family, and upbring children again inside family. This is something that we can be 100% sure that it is pleasing to Allah and the Prophet and our Imam.

Rasul Allah also said, "al-Nikahu sunnati, fa man raghiba 'an sunnati fa laysa minni". 'Nikah is my Sunnah, Nikah is part of my legacy, nikah is part of my mission, my Risala, my way of life and whoever turns away from my Sunnah is not from me.'

Sometimes people cannot marry, it is not up to them. They are happy to marry, but for some reason they cannot marry. Especially some women, maybe they do not have any good proposal. They are very good masha Allah, are very religious, very talented, very educated, they do not find anyone. It is not a blame then for them, because they want to marry.

But sometimes there are people who can marry, but they are afraid, or they do not feel responsible, they do not want to commit, or they are, I do not know, somehow not courageous or do not give priority to this. So whoever can marry and still does not marry, means that is disregarding the sunnah of the Prophet salla Allah 'alayhi wa alihi wa sallam [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa Aali Muhammad wa ajjal farajahum].

So my advice, especially to our young members of our community, especially boys, is that if you see in yourself maturity and responsibility and you can make another person happy, even if you do not need it. You feel you do not need marriage. But you need to marry at least the reason can be to respect the Sunnah of the Prophet and to make another person happy and to form a family.

Maybe you say Al-hamdu li-Llah, I am living with my parents or for example, I am not under any pressure, I can look after my Taqwa [piety] without marriage, so I do not need to marry. Okay, what about making another person happy? What about having family to upbring children? What about Sunnah of the Prophet? So we should not be hesitant when it is the time to marry.

And then there is another hadith from Imam Sadiq 'alayhi as-salam,[Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa Aali Muhammad wa ajjal farajahum]. "Rak'atan yusallihima mutazawwijun afdalo min saba'ina rak'ah yusalliha ghayru mutazawwiju", 'If someone is married and says two Rak'ah of prayer, two raka' salat, another person does not marry; which must be for someone who does not want to marry or the time has not come to marry, but I do not think it includes people who really want to marry but cannot. It is for someone who has no excuse for example. 'Two rak'ah of someone who is married is better than 70 rak'ah of someone who does not get married.'

So you see, as Ayatullah Mutahhari says in different books, marriage in Islam is not just a necessity. We have to marry so that our progeny can continue. We have to marry because if we do not marry, then we may, for example, get into some problems. No, those are there. But marriage for us is 'ibadah [form of worship]. Marriage for us is mustahab [recommended] and for some people becomes wajib [mandatory], is a way to please Allah. Marriage for us is spiritual in essence.

So we are very happy that tonight we are witnessing marriage of two young members of our community and we pray that insha Allah from the beginning, which is tonight, up to the last moments of their insha Allah long and blessed life, this marriage will remain intact. And the passage of time inshAllah can just make it stronger and better like a 'shajarah tayyibah'-'good tree' (14:24) that the passage of time just makes it stronger, the roots become more established and insha Allah 'tu'tiu kulaha kulla hinan' (14:25) - Bi idnhi Rabb InshAllah it will give fruits every now and then with the blessing of Allah Subhanah wa Ta'ala.

There is a sermon from Imam Ridha 'alayhi as-salam [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa Aali Muhammad wa ajjal farajahum] that Allamah al-Majlisi rahmat Allahi 'alayhi [May the mercy of Allah be with him] and some of our scholars have mentioned and they say, "yustahabbu an yukhtab bi khutbati al-Ridha 'alayhi as-salam tabarrukan biha"- they say it is recommended to make this Khutbah- this sermon of Imam Ridha. 'Tabarrukan'- to get barakah [blessings] from it, because it is very comprehensive, "li annaha jami'atun fi ma'naha" - it's meaning is very comprehensive.

So I also read it with the niyyah of this would be the sermon of our Nikah ceremony. "Bismi Allah al-Rahman al-Rahim. Al-hamdu li Allah alladhi hamida fil kitabi nafsah wa iftataha bi al-hamdi kitabah" - ('I begin in the name of Allah, the Most Beneficient, the Most Merciful) All praise is due to Allah who praised in His book Himself and opened with Hamd His book.' So we praise Allah who praised Himself in His book - Al-hamdu li Allahi Rabb al-'alamin' and started His book with Al-hamd. Surat al-Hamd is 'fatihatu al-kitab' [opening of the Book] -very important.

"Wa ja'ala al-Hamda awwala mahalli ni'mati" - 'Hamd is the beginning of coming of Ni'mah [blessings]'. If you manage to praise Allah, if you manage to do Hamd, then expect that blessings would keep coming to you. It is the beginning of process of blessings coming. "Wa akhira jaza'ihi ahli ta'atihi" -'And the greatest reward for those who obey is also coming through Hamd.' "Wa salla Allahu Muhammadin khayr al-bariyyah". After Hamd, Imam Ridha then sends salutations to the Prophet salla Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam, "wa 'ala alihi" - and to his household. "A'immati al-rahma wa ma'adini al-hikmah" - 'who are Imams of mercy and sources of wisdom.' It is a very beautiful description of Ahl al-Bayt. Ahl al-Bayt are "A'immatu al-rahma wa ma'adinu al-Hikmah" - 'They are leaders in mercy. No one can precede them in being kind and merciful and they are the sources of hikmah [wisdom]'.

"Wa al-Hamdu li-Llahi al-ladhi kana fi Nabiyyihi al-Sadiq wa kitabihi al-natiq anna min ahaqqi al-asbab bi al-silah, wa awwla al-umuru bi al-taqdima sababan, awjaba nasab". Imam Ridha then says, 'All the praises to Allah that in his 'naba'-'in his news' which is true, in His Qur'an and in his 'kitab al-natiq'-'in His book which is speaking, He has mentioned that the most important link, connection that we should observe is the link that creates nasab.' 'awjaba nasaba wa amran a'qaba ghinah' - 'and then leads to rich'.

So Imam Ridha is referring to two Ayah [verses] of the Qur'an about marriage. "Fa qala Jalla thana'uhu wa huwa al-ladhi khalaqa min al-ma'i bashara fa ja'alahu nasaban wa sihra wa kana Rabbuka Qadiran" - 'Allah is the One who created from water human beings and then made human beings connected through nasab wa sihrah' - 'there is blood relation and there is marriage as a link, marital relation. Our relatives are connected to us either through blood or through marriage. So marriage is a second way of connecting to each other.

Also Allah said in the Qur'an, "wa ankihu al-ayama minkum wa al-salihin min 'ibadikum wa ima'ikum wa in yakunu fuqara'a yughnihimu Allahu min fadlihi, wa Allahu Wasi'un 'Alimun" (24:32) [Marry off those who are single among you, and the upright among your male and female slaves. If they are poor, Allah will enrich them out of His grace, and Allah is all-bounteous, all-knowing.] Allah says make...

Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa ali Muhammad [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa Aali Muhammad wa ajjal farajahum]. I congratulate both bride and groom and the families and if you do not mind, we make some du'as because it is a very blessed time, and then I take your leave and you can continue with the rest of the program. Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa ali Muhammad wa 'ajjil farajahum. Allahumma unsuri al-Islama wa ahlaha, wa ukhdhuli al-kufra wa ahlaha, wa shattit shamlahum wa farriq jam'ahum wa kallit tadbirahum. Allahumma allif baynahuma kama alafta bayna Adama wa Hawwa'. Allahumma allif baynahuma kama allafta bayna Ibrahima wa Sarah. Allahumma allif baynahuma kama allafta bayna Musa wa Safurah. Allahumma allif baynahuma kama allafta bayna Muhammadin wa Khadijah al-Kubra'.Allahumma allif baynahuma kama allafta bayna 'Aliyyin wa Fatimata al-Zahra' [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa Aali Muhammad wa ajjal farajahum].

Allahumma tayyib naslahuma waj'alhuma mulazimayni li Muhammadin wa alihi al-tayyibin wa al-tahirin. Waj'alhuma min man qulta fihim: 'udkhulu al-Jannata antum wa azwajukum tuhbarun' (43:70). Allahumma ukhluf lahuma awladan salihin wa awsi' fi rizqihima innaka Wasi'un 'Alim. Allahumma inni u'idhuhuma bika wa dhurriyatihima min al-shayatn al-rajim. Allahumma irham mawtana. Allahumma ishfi mardana. Allahumma aslih ma fasada min dinina wa dunyana. Allahumma 'ajjil fi faraji Mawlana Sahib al-'asr wa al-zaman waj'alna min a'wanihi wa ansarihi wa shi'atihi wa al-mumahhidina li dhuhuri bi haqqi Muhammadin wa alihi al-tahirin salawatuka 'alayhi wa 'alayhim ajma'in. Salawat. [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa Aali Muhammad wa ajjal farajahum].

[May the blessings of Allah be upon Muhammad and his pure progeny and may He hasten the Relief. O Allah! make Islam and Muslims victorious and embarrass disbelief and dissemble their ranks and disperse their unity and... O our Lord! Imbue affection between them as you have imbued affection between [Nabi] Adam and Lady Hawwa, O our Lord! Imbue affection between them as you have imbued affection between [Nabi] Ibrahim and Lady Sarah, O our Lord! Imbue affection between them as you have imbued affection between Nabi Musa and Lady Safurah, O our Lord! Imbue affection between them as you have imbued affection between Nabi Muhammad and Lady Khadijah, O our Lord! Imbue affection between them as you have imbued affection between Imam 'Ali and Lady Fatima the Radiant. O our Lord! Make their lineage purified, and place them in the service of Muhammad and his purified and virtuous progeny and may it be said of them as You have said in the Qur'an- 'Enter the Garden, you and your spouses rejoicing.' O our Lord! leave for them behind pious children and increase their sustenance indeed You are the Vast and the all-Knowing. O our Lord! Indeed you are the Only One that can safeguard them and their offspring from the accursed Shaytaan. O our Lord! have mercy on our deceased, O Our Lord! cure the ones who are ill amonsgt us. O our Lord! Right what is corrupted within our way of life and our worldy life, O Our Lord! hasten the appearance of our Master The leader of our time and make us of his supported and his helpers and his followers and those who for his re-appearance with the right of Muhammad and his purified Progeny, we ask that you send your Blessings on him and them all.]

InshAllah du'as are for Mu'minin and Mu'minat who are there and du'as of Imam az-Zaman inshAllah will be for all of you. Iltimase du'a. [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa Aali Muhammad wa ajjal farajahum]. My pleasure. My pleasure and I have a hajah [desire] inshAllah please also pray Allah grants my hajah [Ilahi Amin]. InshAllah. Thank you very much. Iltimase du'a [ I request you for du'a].