What is the fundamental decree regarding marriage?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Let us have a look at the definition of the word sunnah. We refer to everything the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) did and said, and his entire way of life as sunnah. Therefore, we can say that everything he did throughout his life is regarded as sunnah.

The term sunnah used in books of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), however, generally means “there is a thawab (reward) if we do it, but no sin if we do not”.

For example: eating with the right hand, cleaning one’s teeth, and not eating while standing. However, when we take the term sunnah in its broadest sense, it encompasses everything our Prophet (pbuh) did. In this case, Allah’s commands and prohibitions are also included in the scope of the sunnah.

For example, did our Prophet (pbuh) perform prayers (salah)? Yes. Therefore, performing prayers is also a sunnah. In that case, it is necessary to divide sunnah into categories.

Categories of the Sunnah:

Fard (Obligatory) ones: They are everything that Allah has absolutely commanded us to do or to refrain from doing. The one who best exemplified Allah’s commands and prohibitions is our Prophet (pbuh). By following him (Allah’s commands and prohibitions), we follow our Prophet to the highest degree: such as praying, fasting, refraining from fornication, avoiding haram food, not lying, etc.

Wajib ones: The wajib acts of our religion. For example, it is wajib to pray witr prayer as three rak’ahs.

Nafilah (Supererogatory) ones: They are the acts we perform in addition to fard and wajib deeds of worship. For example, reading certain surahs (chapters) from the Quran while performing a prayer is fard, but reading the Subhanaka prayer is a nafilah act.

Adab ones: We refer to them as good manners (adab). When we follow the example of our Prophet (pbuh) while performing our daily activities such as eating, going to bed, entering and leaving the mosque or the restroom (etc.), we will have performed that action in accordance with good manners.

Thus, we can classify the Sunnah into fard, wajib, nafilah and adab deeds. The highest and most virtuous forms of the Sunnah follow this order. We can think of it as being like the human body. A person has organs that are necessary for life: the brain, the heart, the head, etc...

The fundamental principles we must believe in are the brain and heart of our spirit. Our body has sensory organs such as eyes, ears, hands, and feet. The fard acts are similar to them. They are the eyes, ears, hands, and feet of our spirit. Those who do not perform fard deeds are incomplete, like a person without hands, feet, eyes, or ears. Our bodies also have beauties and adornments such as fingers, eyebrows, and hair. We can live without them, but when we have them, we become more perfect human beings.

Similarly, the nafilah and adab parts of the sunnah is the adornment and beauty of our spirit. If we perform them, we earn great thawabs (rewards); if we do not, there is no sin.

To sum up, the fard and wajib aspects of the Sunnah are those that must be performed. As for the nafilah and adab aspects, performing them yields great thawabs. As for the status of haram (forbidden) acts, just as we protect our bodies from deadly things like AIDS, poison, and fire so too must we protect our souls from the deadly and poisonous effects of haram acts.

Since our Prophet (pbuh) performed a marriage ceremony (nikah) when he married, nikah is referred to as the sunnah of our Prophet (pbuh). It is fard for the couples to be married to perform a marriage ceremony.

Women and girls taken captive by the enemy during the war were taken as “concubines (female slaves)”. Since they were regarded as the spoils by the law, they were given, by the Islamic state, to ghazis (warriors) who needed a servant. They were bought and sold as if they were commercial goods unless they were set free. After that moment, the “female slave” was accepted and treated as a member and part of family. The “master” who owned the female slave could employ her in the daily and personal works of him and if he wished, he could have a sexual relationship with her without nikah. Although it seems unusual at first sight, it was accepted normal in the historical conditions of that time. In fact, there is a permission about it in the Quran. The permission is expressed as follows in the chapter of al-Muminun:

“The believers must (eventually) win through,… Who abstain from sex, with those joined to them in the marriage bond, or (the captives) whom their right hands possess,- for (in their case) they are free from blame.”

Two important advantages occur for the female slave if the master has a sexual relationship with her. The first and most important one is that those women whose husbands died at war can be prevented from being neglected. Otherwise, it would be unavoidable that they would prostitute themselves and commit fornication. Thus, she would be dependent on her master’s home.

The other advantage is that if she gave birth to a child from her master, she would be called “ummul-walad” (mother of the child). That child born of the female slave is considered as free. With the birth of the child, the mother becomes free and does not pass to the heirs by inheritance when her master dies. If she had not had the child or if her master had not set her free, the female slave would have passed to the heirs by inheritance like the other goods.

It is not obligatory that the master and female slave live as a husband and wife. The master can employ her only as a maid/servant. If the husband of the female slave is among the captives, their marriage will continue; in that case, it is not religiously permissible to for the master to have a sexual intercourse with the female slave. What is more, if the male slave belongs to a different master from his wife who is also a slave, it is not permissible for the master to sexually benefit from that female slave.

In addition, Islam encourages people (and masters) to marry single people and the righteous male and female slaves with one another. The following is stated in the chapter of an-Nur:

“Marry those among you who are single, or the virtuous ones among yourselves, male or female: if they are in poverty, Allah will give them means out of His grace.” (an-Nur, 24/32)

Thus, equality to some extent can be ensured among slaves. Islam always recommends masters to set slaves free and encourages them to get married with female slaves. In a hadith, the Prophet (pbuh) expresses it as follows:

“He who has a female slave educates hers and treats her nicely, then frees her and marries her will get double thawabs.” (Buhari, Itq, 15)

Given those explanations, one can understand how well Islam protects male and female slaves. A female slave is not seen just as a human whose “womanhood” is exploited. She is a member and part of the family at the same time. She is the most responsible woman at home after her mistress.

A person could liberate his female slave by setting her free give her to someone as a present. The two female slaves that Muqawqis, the Emperor of Egypt, sent to the Prophet (pbuh) were like that. Those two female slaves had become Muslims by changing their religion on the way to Makkah. As it is known, the Prophet (pbuh) got married to one of those female slaves, Mariya. Then she gave birth to Ibrahim (Abraham). After Ibrahim was born, the Prophet freed Mariya. Thus, she was in such a position that the other wives of the Prophet desired to be in her place. The Prophet married the other female slave called Shirin off with his poet Hassan Bin Thabit.

Using this incident as an example, it is not permissible today to take a woman from non-Muslim countries as a “concubine” without marriage. This is because the institution of concubinage, which is now a historical phenomenon, is not practiced in any way today.

On the other hand, the “concubine” presented as a gift to our Prophet (pbuh) was also a concubine belonging to Muqawqis. Muqawqis did not, in fact, send a free woman from his own people to our Prophet (pbuh) as a “gift”.

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