Remaining Single for the Whole Life: Acceptable?

[Unsigned]

Question: Remaining Single for the Whole Life: Acceptable?

 

Answer: By Sheikh Ahmad Kutty

 

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

 

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

 

Islam, being a moderate religion, generally encourages marriage as the pure and legitimate way to regulate man’s sexual appetite and procreate. It is against curbing man’s desire through celibacy. Marriage was the Sunnah of the Prophet, as explained in the following Hadith reported Al-Bukhari on the authority of Anas ibn Malik:

 

A group of three men came to the houses of the wives of the Prophet asking how the Prophet worshiped (Allah), and when they were informed about that, they considered their worship insufficient and said, “How can we attain the Prophet’s status, as his past and future sins have been forgiven!” Then one of them said, “I will offer Prayer throughout the night forever.” Another said, “I will fast throughout the year and will not break my fast.” The third said, “I will keep away from women and will not marry forever.” Allah’s Messenger came to them and said, “Are you the same people who said such-and-such? By Allah, I am more submissive to Allah and more afraid of Him than you; yet I fast and break my fast, I do sleep and I also marry women. So he who does not follow my tradition in religion, is not from me (not one of my followers).”

 

However, the Islamic ruling on marriage differs according to the state and conditions of each person. It can be highly recommended in some cases, or even obligatory under certain conditions. It can also be prohibited or only permitted under other circumstances.

 

In his response to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:

 

“If a person has no strong desire for sexual union, and he is confident of safeguarding himself from temptations, then it is not at all obligatory for him to get married, although it is considered highly recommended if he can afford to provide for his spouse and fulfill his spousal obligations towards her.

 

Marriage is the ideal way in Islam. But at the same time, if a person thinks that he cannot fulfill his spousal obligations, and he has no desire for sexual union, then it shall be considered as permissible for him to remain unmarried. It for reasons mentioned above we find a number of great scholars of the past remained life-long bachelors. Imam Ibn Jarir At-Tabari, the famous author of the most outstanding work on tafsir (exegesis of Qur’an and Sunnah); Imam An-Nawawi, a great scholar of Hadith and a jurist and well known for his piety; Imam Ibn Taymiyah, a great scholar and reformer, were all bachelors. All of these scholars were totally preoccupied with their own scholarly work and life mission so that they did not find any time to think of marriage. Also, they did not have any fear of falling into temptations.

 

So, ultimately, a person should ask himself where he belongs in this matter. If he has a life mission that is so absorbing and so time consuming, and he is not at all bothered by any temptations of any kind and, therefore, has no fear of falling into sins, then it shall be considered as permissible for him to remain unmarried.

 

Coming to the question of evidence in the Qur’an and the Sunnah, there is nothing in the sources that makes marriage obligatory unless someone were unable to protect himself from temptations. We learn from the sources that the two Prophets of Allah Yahya (John) and `Isa (Jesus) (peace and blessings be upon them) were bachelors; if it had been sinful to be bachelors, then they would not have led such a life.

 

To conclude, although marriage is the ideal way in Islam, there is nothing wrong for a person to remain a bachelor, if he has no desire for union and he finds himself capable of protecting himself from temptations. What we said above applies equally to males and females, since there is nothing in the sources to indicate otherwise.”

 

Allah Almighty knows best.

[hukri]

Interesting!...but personally I think all of us in the future want/need some lovin :cool:

 

 

|Peace|Love|Respect|

[Thinkerman]

I wouldnt have though so, Marriage Being Half of our Deen.

[Captivating_SouL]

Shujui couldnt agree with you more.

And besides, who on earth islam or non-islam wont be with their significant other..as the ultimate connection..."marriage". Like the above people said..i personally wont either agree with not getting married. Everyone has urges, tempations fly, and i can hardly doubt that someone is out there without these humanistic feelings.

 

Salamz

[Thinkerman]

Yeah Am afraid am a humanist and i dont know the merit of advicing If a person has no strong desire for sexual union, and he is confident of safeguarding himself from temptations , then it is not at all obligatory for him to get married.

 

I doubt that any healthy human being would not have at some stage of the adult hood (God knows some start much earlier) strong feelings towards the Opposite sex.

[Paragon]

Interesting topic indeed. Thank you. And now i can focus on my scholarstic lifestyle.

[Haashim]

Originally posted by JamaaL-11:

Interesting topic indeed. Thank you. And now i can focus on my scholarstic lifestyle.

 

Yaa ii qosla aniga ma qosli karee

[Reality Check]

Where does Islam being have your religion stated in the Koran?

 

Second of all, is that article aimed towards males? or both sexes?

 

Third, I think that everyone can control their sexual urges.

[Paragon]

LoooooL Muraad! War ninyahow shaqshaqi baan ku daallay nooh!