A discussion on marriage and its conditions.

The Shaykh : We praise Him and seek His help and ask His forgiveness, and we seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our own selves and from the bad of our deeds. Whoever Allah guides, no one can mislead, and whoever He misleads, no one can guide. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger, His intimate friend and His trustee over His revelation. Allah the Exalted sent him with guidance and the religion of truth, and made him the seal of the prophets and the leader of the pious, indeed, and the leader of the messengers. May Allah send blessings and peace upon him, his family, and his Companions.
This session is concerned with two matters. The first is the discussion of the leave, and what a person should do during this long summer break.
The second is marriage. As for the first, we spoke about it in last Friday’s sermon, and I hope that many of you heard it. For those who did not hear it, it is available, praise be to Allah, on the tapes. As for the second, which is important, and perhaps even more important, it is marriage and what is related to it.
Know, my Muslim brother, that marriage is among the most dangerous, most important, most necessary, and most harmful of contracts. Marriage is among the sunnahs of the messengers, peace and blessings be upon them. Allah the Exalted said: .
Marriage is a response to the call of the fitrah, for every human being is created with that disposition, except for a rare few. It is a response to the fitrah upon which people were created. It is well known that a person’s response to what the fitrah requires is among the matters that are sought, meaning: what your fitrah requires is among the matters that are sought, and it may even be obligatory. Have you seen eating and drinking? Does the fitrah call for them or not? Answer? Yes, it calls for them. And yet, it may be obligatory at times. Indeed, it may become obligatory for you to eat carrion if you fear death; if you fear perishing, it is obligatory for you to eat whatever sustains your life, even if it is carrion.
Marriage is called for by the fitrah, so performing it is a response to what the fitrah calls for and requires. In marriage, there is lowering the gaze, protecting the private parts, increasing the Muslim community, and bringing the community closer together. How many people have no connection between them, and marriage becomes the cause of that connection. For this reason, Allah the Exalted said: Kinship is lineage, and in-law relationships are the closeness between people due to marriage. For this reason, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, married many times in order to have a connection in every clan of Quraysh. The Prophet’s, peace and blessings be upon him, having many wives was not to satisfy his desire. Therefore, he did not marry a virgin except for one woman. Who was she? Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her. If the Prophet’s, peace and blessings be upon him, having many wives were to satisfy desire, he would have married virgins. And who would refuse him? Any person the Prophet would suggest to would answer him. But he wanted to have a connection in every clan of Quraysh, because intermarriage among people is one of the causes of closeness and connection. Even the relatives of your wife become, with respect to your children, what are they? Maternal uncles, or fathers and grandfathers, or mothers and grandmothers. Therefore, we say: this is among the benefits of marriage, that people become closer to one another.