The Book of Marriage, Breastfeeding, Divorce, Mutual Oath-Swearing, and Manumission-01a

The reciter: Yahya ibn Yahya al-Tamimi, Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah, and Muhammad ibn al-Alla al-Hamdani all narrated from Abu Mu'awiyah, and the wording is that of Yahya. He said: Abu Mu'awiyah informed us from al-A'mash from Ibrahim from 'Uqbayah, who said: .

The Shaykh : His statement, may Allah have mercy on him, is the statement of the biographer... The Book of Marriage. The term *nikah* is used for the contract, and this is what is intended in the Book and the Sunnah. It may also be used for intercourse, but only with a contextual indicator. As for the one who says it is a shared term between the contract and intercourse, his statement is weak. His saying, Exalted is He, , what is intended here? The contract, and not intercourse. For this reason, if a man commits unlawful sexual intercourse with a woman, her mother and daughters do not become forbidden to him, because this is not *nikah*. However, if there is a contextual indicator showing that *nikah* means intercourse, it is understood as what the indicator points to. For example, His saying, Exalted is He, , here *tunkih* means to have intercourse with, meaning her husband has intercourse with her, as indicated by the word "husband." And *nikah* after the state of being a wife is nothing but intercourse, because the term "wife" is not complete without a contract. And His saying, Blessed and Exalted is He, , the meaning is that he does not contract marriage with her, and the meaning is not that he does not have intercourse with her, as many scholars have said. Because *nikah* in the Shari'ah is intended to mean the contract, and not intercourse, except with a contextual indicator. Marriage is a *sunnah* (recommended practice), there is no doubt in that, because it is from the *sunnah* of the messengers. Allah the Exalted said: . And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said about himself: . And he commanded marriage, as will come in the hadith. The scholars differed on whether it is obligatory or not? It was said that it is obligatory absolutely for every young man who is able, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): . And this is the correct view that it is obligatory, due to the command of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his disapproval of the one who said, "I will not marry women." As for if he fears unlawful sexual intercourse, fearing for himself from committing it, there is no doubt in its obligation, just as if he were in a country with loose morals where it is easy for a person to commit unlawful sexual intercourse and he fears it. Here, he must marry to avert this fear. Marriage has great benefits, some of which will be mentioned in the hadith. He says: "I was walking with 'Abdullah in Mina". Who is the one saying this? 'Uqbayah. He met Uthman ibn 'Affan (may Allah be pleased with him), who was the Caliph at that time, so he stood with him and chatted with him. Uthman said to him: "O Abu 'Abd al-Rahman, shall we not marry you?". "O Abu 'Abd al-Rahman" is a kunyah (patronymic), because using a kunyah is a form of honor and respect: "I use his kunyah when I meet him to honor him *** And I do not use his laqab (nickname), for a bad nickname is a defect". So we say that his saying "O Abu 'Abd al-Rahman" is a form of veneration and exaltation. "Shall we not marry you a girl?" meaning a young, youthful woman, perhaps she will remind you of some of your past days, meaning she will remind you of the vigor for marriage. He did not say "perhaps she will restore to you," but rather "perhaps she will energize you." And there is no doubt that if a man marries a young woman, even if his desire for women is low, his desire for them will strengthen. So 'Abdullah said to him: . "O young men" means the group, and young men are the small ones, thirty years old or less. He only said that to excuse himself to him, because he thought it wise to say, "I have no desire for that," so he quoted the hadith. So it is as if he, may Allah be pleased with him, is saying, "And I am now old, so I have no interest in women." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . "Attawa" means to be able, and the original meaning of *istata'a* is to enter into one's power, i.e., to be able. So let him marry. And his saying "the means of marriage" (*al-ba'ah*) refers to the expenses of marriage, such as the mahr (bridal gift), maintenance, housing, and so on. So let him marry. Then the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) explained some of the wisdoms, saying: , meaning that if a person marries, he restrains his gaze from looking at women and guards his private parts. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) only mentioned these two benefits because they are the quickest to appear among the benefits of marriage. So the young man with desire, from the moment he marries and enters upon his wife, he achieves lowering the gaze and guarding the private parts. Otherwise, it has many benefits, including the increase of the Ummah, and what follows from the expenses in terms of reward and recompense, and so on. But the Messenger mentioned this because it is the most comfortable for what? For the young men, and the closest result is "it is more effective in lowering the gaze and guarding the private parts." So whoever cannot afford it... let him fast, meaning let him adhere to fasting, which is worshipping Allah the Mighty and Majestic by abstaining from the things that break the fast from the appearance of dawn to the setting of the sun. Fasting was mentioned because fasting, if it is a true fast, restrains a person's tongue from backbiting and his limbs from doing evil. So it will prevent him from committing forbidden acts and lead him to turn to Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He. And if a person turns to Allah with true turning, he becomes self-sufficient in Him and occupies himself with the remembrance of Allah the Exalted over other things. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said when he forbade continuous fasting: , meaning by what is in my heart of the remembrance of Allah the Mighty and Majestic and attachment to Him. So fasting leads to that. Then, from the perspective of the body, it weakens the blood vessels and dries them out. Therefore, the pathways of Satan are weakened, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed that Satan runs through the son of Adam like blood. So for the person, there is worship through fasting, which Allah has reserved for Himself, restraint from forbidden acts, and a reduction of desire, because fasting reduces it. For this reason, he said: , meaning a cut. For him, meaning for marriage, which is desire, and *waja'* means a cut. If he cannot fast, he should be chaste, as Allah the Exalted said: , to the extent possible. If it is asked: Is it permissible for a young man to use medicines that cause weakness of desire or cut it off? The answer is no, because this harms the person. Yes, if it is assumed that a person is between two things: either he uses this medicine or he commits unlawful sexual intercourse, then at that time we say that the harm of unlawful sexual intercourse is greater than the harm that will result from this medicine, especially if he does not persist in using it. Yes.