Which is more important: seeking knowledge or marriage?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner: ... So my advice is, which one should be prioritized?
The Shaykh: If he has a strong desire for marriage, let him get married.
The questioner: First?
The Shaykh: If he has a lack of desire, let him seek knowledge.
The questioner: And if marriage would prevent him from seeking knowledge, meaning?
The Shaykh: I tell you, there are two situations.
The questioner: Meaning, he prioritizes it.
The Shaykh: One must prioritize the more important over the less important.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh: Seeking knowledge is a collective obligation, while marriage is an individual obligation. When a person has a strong desire, as is usually the case with young men, he must fulfill this before that. But if he has a lack of desire, as they say today, sexual coldness, or if he is, for example, suffering from an illness, God forbid, that does not help him in marriage, let him seek knowledge. So, is your statement valid even if it is not applicable?
The questioner : Okay.
The questioner: A similar case to this is the issue of the hudud (fixed punishments), meaning, between a man...
The Shaykh : The same answer applies.
The questioner: The same thing?
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner: Now, some people divided it using the same division, meaning...
The Shaykh: If he has a strong desire for marriage, let him get married.
The questioner: First?
The Shaykh: If he has a lack of desire, let him seek knowledge.
The questioner: And if marriage would prevent him from seeking knowledge, meaning?
The Shaykh: I tell you, there are two situations.
The questioner: Meaning, he prioritizes it.
The Shaykh: One must prioritize the more important over the less important.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh: Seeking knowledge is a collective obligation, while marriage is an individual obligation. When a person has a strong desire, as is usually the case with young men, he must fulfill this before that. But if he has a lack of desire, as they say today, sexual coldness, or if he is, for example, suffering from an illness, God forbid, that does not help him in marriage, let him seek knowledge. So, is your statement valid even if it is not applicable?
The questioner : Okay.
The questioner: A similar case to this is the issue of the hudud (fixed punishments), meaning, between a man...
The Shaykh : The same answer applies.
The questioner: The same thing?
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner: Now, some people divided it using the same division, meaning...
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.