The Prophet sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam mentioned many things about nikaah, or marriage. The first and foremost is that marriage is a sunnah, or tradition of the Prophet. So, anyone who wants to follow Islam and be part of the legacy left by the Prophet should indeed get married. The context of this is, basically, that many Muslims want to become pious and close to Allah. But how does one go about achieving this? The answer is quite simple. The only way to accomplish this is by following the sunnah of the Prophet. Innovations and practices that are not in line with the way of the Prophet cannot lead us to Allah’s proximity.

Invariably, when people want to become close to Allah, they enter into a mode of ‘itikaaf, or seclusion, i.e. staying away from society so that society does not “bug” them and interfere in their individual piety. In other words, you are trying to become pious and so you want to leave the world and the dunya, and not engage in it. However, living in society by default means you will have to deal with the world and the dunya. To this dilemma the Prophet provided a solution: follow the sunnah. The Prophet did not cut himself from the world, but engaged it. The only way for Muslims to become pious without going into seclusion is to believe that the sunnah of the Prophet is the best way to become pious. Anyone going against the sunnah is attacking the institution of taqwa, or piety, itself. The Prophet said, “The one who is the closest to Allah and the most knowledgeable amongst you is me.” In this light, if the Prophet married and at the same time maintained his piety, who are we not to? The truth is we don’t have to give up the dunya and the world to gain taqwa; thinking that one needs to do so is a tremendous misconception and a grave bida’ (innovation).

The Prophet made sure that every Muslim knew and understood the hadith, “Nikah is of my sunnah.” The reason behind this is that human beings need other human beings to survive; we are social beings, it is built into our DNA. The Prophet said, “Your piety is in being human.” This means that maintaining your humanness is part of your piety. The only way you can remain human is to interact with humans, which is the cornerstone in raising a family. In this regard, the Prophet said, “Whoever marries has completed half of his imaan, so fear Allah in the remaining half.” Half of your imaan is in getting married and the other is in staying away from haram, praying salaat, giving charity, doing good, etc.

Marriage protects half of your deen. Through marriage you become pure, chaste, are relieved of wandering eyes and drifting thoughts; you will be seen as a family-person, someone respected and noble, someone who doesn’t come off as “standoffish.”

Piety comes from the fact that you lower yourself in front of another person, and say, “I am willing to live my life with you for the sake of pleasing Allah and for the sake of fulfilling whatever needs and desires I have through you and with you.” That is what nikaah means, i.e. a commitment to another human being. But this only comes when both partners are committed to the marriage through the sunnah provided to us by the Prophet sallallaahu alayhi wasallam.