Bismillah
Praise be to Allah Who Put Mercy and Compassion between the married spouses, The All Knowing and Creator of all, prayer and peace be upon His Messenger Mohamed Ibn Abdullah, his household and companions, and all Prophets and Messengers.
Allah Who Say: <b>”And among His Signs is this, that He created for you wives from among yourselves, that you may find repose in them, and He has put between you affection and mercy. Verily, in that are indeed signs for a people who reflect
.” </b> (Quran 30:21)
This is a promise from Allah to the married couple, but are we following the prescribed criteria in selecting the spouse? O yes of course marriage is a worship certainly, and the associated procedures is what we are missing or more so deserting.
The Messenger salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam told us in this regard:
<b>“Narrated under the authority of Abi Horaira that the Messenger of Allah salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam said: if a man of whom you accept his manners, ethics, morals and religious commitment proposed to you for marriage, accept his marriage proposal. If you don’t follow this, fitnah will prevail on earth coupled with extended corruption” (reported by Sunan Ibn Majeh)[/
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"Narrated under the authority of Abi Horaira may Allah Be Pleased with him that the Prophet salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam said: <b>There are four traits which encourages a man to marry a woman, her wealth, social status, beauty and religious commitment. Win the one with a strong religious commitment, may you be satisfied” </b>reported by Muslim)
With a quick look you can realize that a common factor in the criteria of both men and women is the religious commitment or devotion.
Come let us examine the youth at our present time, and certainly I m not making a blanket, or generalizing. Not all youth, but quite a large number of young girls still go for the nice car, good looks, money to enable the man get the big rock (diamond ring), luxurious apartment….etc all the worldly affairs. While quite a large number of men become strongly attracted to the pretty woman who is displaying herself (whom he regrets later when he finds that last thing she thinks about is how to maintain a Muslim family), or other worldly factors.
On the other side, when a girl is fully convinced that she is determined to apply this precious advice of the Messenger salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam, she is confronted with all sorts of resistance from her family members and surrounding society. She might be even accused of giving up important matters that she will regret later on. A young man may also face the same situation with the family in case the woman whom he desires is mainly of a religious devotion level.
The surrounding society plays in this matter a pivotal role that if we look around we really see how we are actually deserting such an important worship.