Is there any advice for fathers regarding hastening the marriage of their sons?

The questioner : The questioner says: May Allah preserve you and protect you, and guide your steps, O Shaykh. Since your talk tonight is about enjoining good and forbidding evil, and since the vacation is approaching and weddings are becoming numerous, I, along with other single young men like me, complain to Allah and then to you about what we face from wealthy fathers who have forbidden us marriage and made it conditional upon our completing our studies, which we do not know when we will finish. By Allah, who there is no god but He, O Shaykh, we are living in a life full of worry and pain, with so many trials and evils. These fathers think that we are living in the most comfortable and pleasant life. By Allah, if we were to live in a desert in a tent with a wife and children, that would be more beloved to us than tall palaces in the life of bachelors. So we ask you to direct a word to these fathers and a piece of advice to us, the sons, so that perhaps Allah may make it beneficial. May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : The reality is that this question is valid; indeed, it is valid, because we hear from some fathers—and may Allah protect us from that—whom Allah has enriched and who have abundant wealth. When a young man asks them to marry him off, they say: "No, scratch your back with your own fingernail. Get a job, and when you get a job, then get married." I offer advice to these fathers: fear Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and know that it is an individual obligation for them to marry off their sons as long as they have the ability, just as it is obligatory for them to feed them, give them drink, clothe them, and house them. It is obligatory for them to marry them off. If they do not do so, they are sinful. They are among the stingy who are stingy with what Allah has given them of His bounty, thinking it is good for them, while it is actually evil for them. If it happens—and I ask Allah that it not happen—that the son goes astray because his father refused to marry him off despite his ability to do so, then his father bears the sin of this deviation, because he is the cause. Then we say to this father: You do not know; perhaps you will see the sunrise but not the sunset, and then your wealth will be among your sons whom you were stingy with. Fear Allah. He says: "I do not marry them off because they are men and they marry themselves." Glory to Allah! Is the matter in their hands? Does everyone who graduates today find a job? Absolutely not. Perhaps he remains for a month, two months, a year, or two years without finding a job. The matter is not in his hand. If that is the case, then now we have a confirmed benefit, and his father is able to provide it, which is marrying him off. And we have an illusory benefit, which is that the young man will marry with his own money, and we do not know when that will be. So I say: Any person whom Allah has enriched and enabled to marry off his son, and the son asks for it, either by his words or by his state, and the father refuses to do so, then he is sinful for this. He is sinful because he neglected an obligation upon him. As for the young men, I advise them to be patient, to seek reward from Allah, and to be chaste. If they do that, then Allah the Exalted will enrich them from His bounty. Allah the Exalted says: , This is like a promise from Allah the Exalted that if you are chaste, then Allah the Exalted will enrich you. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Then I advise the young men to stay away from things that arouse desire, such as images, watching television, or conversations where some talk to others, or the like. Because if they engage in what arouses desire, then a person in the future of his youth will inevitably have his desire aroused, and he is to be feared for. So let them be patient and seek reward, for patience is the key to good. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Yes.