What is the meaning of the hadith: “Marry those who are fertile and loving”?

The questioner : In the previous hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) , the intended meaning in the hadith is the first wife or plural marriage, and it has reached us that you, meaning, do not advise plural marriage in the present time.

The Shaykh : Yes...

Another questioner : ...

The Shaykh : The hadith does not address the second, third, or fourth marriage. But does not the saying of Allah the Exalted: suffice us and make us independent of the hadith? I think the verse “I suspect you of...” is this one. But there is something behind the veil, as they say. As for my not advising a man today to marry more than one woman, this is sincere advice, but it is not an absolute statement, because I cannot advise contrary to what the Shari'ah has commanded and advised.

Another questioner: Allahu Akbar.

The Shaykh : So long as, first, you have the noble verse we mentioned earlier, , it is not befitting for a scholar, let alone a student of knowledge, to say, “Do not marry except one.”

Another questioner: Allahu Akbar.

The Shaykh : But I say now that it is not permissible for a Muslim who goes to Europe, America, and other lands of disbelief and misguidance to marry from there, even if she is Jewish or Christian. Knowing that Allah (Mighty and Majestic), after commanding the marriage of believing women, connected to that and said: But despite that, I say: I do not advise the Muslim today to marry one of these women of the People of the Book. Why? For two reasons. One is related to the disbelieving society from which he wants to marry.

Another questioner : May Allah have mercy on you.

The Shaykh : And the other is related to the Muslim society to which he wants to bring the wife he takes and removes from that disbelieving society. Each of the two societies has differed from the two societies that existed at the time of the revelation of the verse mentioned earlier, . As for the disbelieving society and that it has differed from before, I think this is not hidden from anyone, because the Jews and Christians in previous times, especially in the time of the Messenger (peace be upon him), had in them some adherence to the morals they inherited from their fathers and grandfathers, and these they received from their prophets: something called jealousy, something called honor, modesty, decency, and so on. These things in the European society have become forgotten, and the opposite, the contrary, and the antithesis of them is what their society is based on. This is the disbelieving society from which the Muslim might marry a woman of the People of the Book. As for the Muslim society, there is no doubt that the Muslim society today has become as he (peace be upon him) said: The first Islamic society was an ideal society for all the societies that preceded it, even in the time of the messengers and prophets, let alone the societies that came after it. In this righteous society, the wife, if a Muslim married her, would not soon live in an Islamic society and enter this Islamic crucible, as they say today, and be stamped with the nature of the society and walk in accordance with their customs and traditions. This is if the disbelieving wife did not become a Muslim because she approached the ideal society, lived in it, and knew it intimately and closely, so it appeared to her as He said: And the Messenger (peace be upon him) pointed to this reality when he said: He (peace and blessings be upon him) is pointing to the effects of the first Islamic jihad, where they were victorious over their enemies, killing some and taking others captive. Many of these captives, in the opinion of the lawful ruler, became slaves and servants, and were transferred as captives to the lands of Islam, then distributed according to the division mentioned in the war spoils. So this one becomes the servant of a great man or a strong young man, and this one becomes the servant of a married woman, who was naturally a virgin, or a young girl. They were forced, because of the captivity, to enter the Islamic society. This was the cause of the conversion of thousands of these captives to Islam, because they were transferred from a disbelieving society based on injustice and false, corrupt morals to the Islamic society based on justice and nobility in morals. When they saw these differences, and as it is said, “By its opposite, things become clear,” faith entered their hearts and they became Muslims. That was at that time. Now, if a Muslim brings a European woman, the result will be completely reversed. She will take charge of raising the husband’s children, and perhaps she will take charge of raising the husband himself. It is not necessary that she make him Christian or Jewish, but she will make him live the life of Europe in the lands of Islam: the customs, traditions, and so on. Yes, this is the intended meaning of His saying: Yes, He permitted this because the closest of the polytheists and disbelievers to the Muslims are the People of the Book, the Jews and Christians. And the closest of the two genders of Jews and Christians to Islam are the Christians, by an explicit text in the noble Qur'an. But today, these good effects that used to appear in that Islamic society, first, do not appear, and second, the opposite is what appears. Because of my observation of these results, I say: Do not marry from the Europeans or the Americans, not as a prohibition of what Allah has made lawful—far be it from Allah—but as an observation of the harms that may result from this marriage. And why do I not say this when we are commanded in Islam to advise the Muslim not to marry the open sinner woman and not to marry the woman who displays her adornment? Because she will be the partner of his life and will be in their small state in the position of the Minister of the Interior. She is the one who has to raise this new generation that will be the result of their marriage. So how will she raise them? In accordance with what she is, because “he who lacks a thing cannot give it.” So it is more fitting and more fitting that we say: Do not marry the loose women, the unchaste ones, and those who have no religion. Their own religion is changing and shifting, and the morals have become a name without a body, and so on. We return then to the topic of what is the meaning of the dual number. When He said: , the Islamic society was not intellectually invaded as the Islamic society today is intellectually invaded. Meaning, there was not in the Islamic society a Western culture, foreign ideas occupying places in the hearts of many Muslims. Far be it from them; they truly believed in what Allah revealed to the heart of His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).