Can a woman choose to stay single for life?

I am a girl, and I do not wish to be married or have a child ever. But my friends and teachers say it is haram for a woman capable of giving birth to not have a child (thus they are saying a woman capable of birth must marry, otherwise it would be infidelity). But I do not wish to get married or have a child. Is this haram for me?

Dear Brother / Sister,

If there is no risk of committing sins and fornication, it is not haram not to get married. However, if there is not an obligatory reason, we recommend you to marry a morally justified Muslim man.

The following attitude of the Prophet (pbuh) is regarded as the greatest evidence about how man can control the feelings of his soul and how much he knows about the reality of man: We read the following in a hadith reported by Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) in Bukhari and Muslim: Three people came and asked about the worshipping of the Messenger of Allah. When they were informed about his worshipping, they underestimated it and said, "Can we be the same as the Messenger of Allah? His sins regarding the past and the future were forgiven." One of them said he would perform prayers all the night; the second one said he would fast every day; the third one said he would never get married.  When the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) heard about it, he called them and said to them, "I swear by Allah that I fear Allah the most among you; but, I sometimes fast and sometimes eat; I sometimes perform prayers and I sometimes sleep; I get married, too. Whoever abandons my sunnah is not a member of my ummah." (Bukhari, Nikah, 1; Muslim, Siyam 74, 79).

Hazrat Prophet (pbuh) stated the benefits of marriage as follows while addressing a group of young people: "O young people! If any of you can afford to marry, he should marry at once because marriage protects the eyes from haram best; it is the stronghold of one’s sexual organs. If you cannot afford to marry, you should perform fasting because fasting weakens the lust... (Bukhari, Sawm, 1, Nikah, 2 3; Muslim, Nikah,1, 3; Abu Dawud Nikah, 1, Ibn Majah, Nikah, 1).

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