The coming together of a man and a woman in marriage is one of the most unique events in the universe. All the things created in the universe are created in pairs, but the compatibility that exists between a man and a woman cannot be found in any other created thing. When a man and a woman come together as partners for life, it is evident that they have been made for each other through a conscious plan.
Marriage is not simply a social institution. In Islam, it has an importance far greater than this. According to the Islamic concept of life, God Almighty created an ideal world, Paradise. Paradise is a perfect and eternal world. God wants to select those women and men who may qualify to settle in this highly refined colony of Paradise. So God created men and women for the purpose of this selection or test, and settled them on Earth.
Men and women are two equal halves of a single unit.
Marriage is directly linked to this scheme of creation. Men and women are both born with great capabilities. It is their duty to turn these capabilities, this potential, into reality. Our present life offers us an opportunity for this purpose. This present world is like a ground where we live for a short time only for the purpose of preparing ourselves for the next world. We have to strive to develop our personality in such a way that we may qualify for our entry into Paradise. This process is called Tazkia, or the purification of the soul in the Quran. This purification or preparation is a lifelong process. Only through study, contemplation, introspection, and learning can we develop this kind of personality.
In developing our personality, the most important thing for us is to broaden our mind by awakening our consciousness. To awaken our consciousness, we require three things—study, observation and intellectual exchange with other people. Books are the greatest source of knowledge we can study that we have, the world of nature is the greatest source of knowledge that we can observe, and in the matter of intellectual learning, it is essential for us to form the habit of learning from others, and continue in this learning process. A spouse is an immediate intellectual partner. From this point of view, marriage is a great opportunity for intellectual development, as both people can interact with each other and make intellectual progress together. Intellectual development is essential for everyone. Marriage offers just such an ideal opportunity for intellectual partnership.
According to a saying of the Prophet of Islam, men and women are two equal halves of a single unit. The best expression of this equality is that both serve as equal intellectual partners to each other. Husband and wife both are equal partners in carrying on this process of personality development through exchange. Husband and wife are full-time companions, and are available to each other for this purpose, day and night. Through every day intellectual exchange, they increase their creativity, they discover new things, and are partners in mutual learning. Thus they can develop their personality in terms of Tazkia, or purification.
God wants to select those women and men who may qualify to settle in this highly refined colony called Paradise.
To further boost this process, God Almighty created men and women with differences. We are different in terms of attitude, temperament, tastes and psychology. This difference is not an evil, or a problem. It is instead a boon or blessing. It is this difference of opinion that provides them with subjects of discussion. These discussions of diverse points awaken the mind, and through this awakening of mind, we realize our potential. It is this natural difference that gives us a chance to improve ourselves and attain higher levels of developed personalities. We then become supermen and superwomen.
This process of personality development along positive lines is not restricted to the life in this world. It continues into the next, and it is this personality development on positive lines that will enable us to find an entry into God's eternal Paradise.
If we ponder upon this reality, we will arrive at a most thrilling discovery, and find that our issues with each other are completely meaningless. Men and women are the masterpieces of God’s creation. Marriage is the coming together of these two masterpieces of creation in a union that can lead them to Paradise.
