Significance of Nikkah

[bamalli]

Significance of Nikkah


[Sahih Muslim: Volume 8, Book 'Kitab Al-Nikah', Number 3231]

'Alqama reported: While I was walking with 'Abdullah (Radi Allah Anhu) at Mina, 'Uthman (Radi Allah Anhu) happened to meet him. He stopped there and began to talk with him. Uthman (Radi Allah Anhu) said to him: Abu 'Abd al-Rahman (Radi Allah Anhu), should we not marry you to a young girl who may recall to you some of the past of your bygone days; thereupon he said: If you say so, Allah's Messenger (sal-allahu- alleihi-wasallam ) said:
"0 young men, those among you who can support a wife should marry, for it restrains eyes from casting (evil glances). and preserves one from immorality; but those who cannot should devote themselves to fasting for it is a means of controlling sexual desire."

[ummita]

I taught Nikkah was like a pre-wedding before the actual wedding? Confused? Yes!!!

Initially I believed Nikkah to be like a covenant between a bride and groom. (Qur'an, verse 4:21). I remembered this clearly because recently a female friend of mine gave a conference nasihah on marriage.

Nikkah is used to metaphorically describe the coming together of created souls based on promises. For example it says, in the Qur'an, that "the rain married the soil" and then it illustrates how, from this intimate mix, something novel bounces forth - that the earth brings forth flowers and herbage, it opens to new creations, new life, new potentials. So the act of marriage, the mingling through nikah, according to Islam, courses through all things, through all of creation. Each pair of the marriage brings something necessary and something unique to the marriage.

I do not understand nor believe that the significance of Nikkah is to avoid lust, instead I believe it to be a marriage process.

Toh, Allahu wa'alam.........

[sheriff 05]

As salam alaikum,
Well I am not a religious authority in any sense, so I will wait for Bamalli to give a better response. However, Hajia Ummita since as you explained, Nikkah is used to metaphorically describe the coming together of souls on a promise (and which as you explain opens to potentially new creation), in the context of human social behaviour, isnt that exactly what a marriage is? Nikkah indeed (as you rightly pointed out), means a union based on commitment, (that is, in its literal sense). But referring to human social interaction, most often when cited in the Quran and the hadith, (in its contextual sense now) it is used to refer to Marriage. It is, as I understand it, a life long description of the pre-wedding and the post wedding life which both parties share, including the commitments binding them. Allahu A'alam.

Secondly, the hadith above points to "a" signifigance of marriage not "the" significance. It is one among many contained in other sayings of the Rasul (S.A.W) as well as those of eminent Sahabah and eminent scholars. Yes i do understand your position, but you should view it as a part of a larger bowl of collective benefts, captured in numerous other sources.

I think that's why the learned scholars are weary of giving overarching fatwa's based on single hadiths, and why most (sincere ones anyway) will be open to change their stance on issues as they learn more and consult broader sources, should any evidence emerge to show they were wrong (as reflected in the sayings of Imam Malik & Imam Ahmad bn Hambal). They understand that hardly does a single hadith contain everything, as these sayings refer to sayings and/or actions built around contextual occurences. Hence it may not give a complete picture, considering contexts do differ... Forgive me, as I seem to digress. But all I'm saying is, it is one significance among many.. and (with specific reference to the hadith quoted), it reflected an understanding of the natural sexual urges of youth, and hence may have been given as a solution to protect him from that. Again Allahu A'alam

Lastly, forgive me, but could you please reconfirm the quranic verse you cited here? I checked it out and it was referring to a prohibition of marriage of our fathers wives. is that the one you were referring to?

Salam

[Muhsin]

Allah ya sassaka. Sheriff 05, I always do appreciate your writings.

[bamalli]

Salam,What u have read is an authentic Hadith from As-sahih bukhari. The full commentry is in the fathul-bari,i can also refer u to a book called Minhaj al-Muslim or Fiqh sunna for more explanation.Thanks.