Gambia-L:

A member of my discussion group ([log in to unmask]) forwarded this
beautiful article to that forum.

Regards,


Awa Sey

--------ORIGINAL MESSAGE--------
Sheikh Abdullah Adhami on marriage

Advice to Husbands (and Wives)

By getting married you are not just getting a wife, you are getting your
whole world. From now until the rest of your days your wife will be your
partner, your companion, and your best friend. She will share your moments,
your days, and your years. She will share your joys and sorrows, your
successes and failures, your dreams and your fears. When you are ill, she
will take the best care of you; when you need help, she will do all she can
for you; when you have a secret, she will keep it; when you need advice, she
will give you the best advice. She will always be with you: when
you wake up in the morning the first thing your eyes will see will be her;
during the day, she will be with you, if for a moment she is not with you by
her physical body, she will be thinking of you, praying for you with all her
heart, mind, and soul; when you go to sleep at night, the last thing your
eyes will see will be her; and when you are asleep you will still see her in
your dreams. In short, she will be your whole world and you will be her whole
world.

The best description that I personally have ever read describing the
closeness of the spouses to each other is the Quranic verse which says: "they
are your garments and you are their garments" Indeed, spouses are like
garments to each other because they provide one another with the protection,
the comfort, the cover, the support, and the adornment that garments provide
to humans. Just imagine a journey in the winter of Alaska without garments!
Our spouses provide us with the same level of comfort, protection, cover, and
support in the journey of our lives on this earth as garments would do in the
Alaska journey.

The relationship between the spouses is the most amazing of all human
relations: the amount of love and affection, intimacy and closeness, mercy
and compassion, peace and tranquility that fills the hearts of the spouses is
simply inexplicable. The only rational explanation for these most amazing of
all human feelings is that: it is an act of God. Only God Almighty in His
infinite power, boundless mercy, and great wisdom can create and ingrain
these amazing feelings in the hearts of the spouses. In fact God is reminding
those who search for His signs in the universe that these feelings in the
hearts of the spouses are among the signs that should guide humans
to His existence as He says in the Quran," And among His signs is this, that
He created for you mates from among yourselves that you may dwell in
tranquility with them and He has put love and mercy between your hearts:
verily in that are signs for those who reflect"

But the human heart is not a static entity, it is very dynamic. Feelings can
and do change with time. Love may wither and fade away. The marital bond
might weaken if not properly cared for. Happiness in marriage cannot be taken
for granted; continuous happiness requires constant giving from both sides.
For the tree of marital love to remain alive and keep growing, the soil has
to be sustained, maintained, and nurtured.

Remember that our Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him had found the time to go
out to the desert and race with his wife Aisha. She outstripped him but later
after she had gained some weight, he outstripped her Remember that the
Prophet took his wife to watch the young Ethiopians playing and dancing their
folk dances.

The show of emotions is necessary to keep the marital bond away from rusting
and disintegrating. Remember that you will be rewarded by God for any
emotions you
show to your wife as the Prophet said "one would be rewarded for anything
that he does seeking the pleasure of God even the food that he puts in the
mouth of his wife" Never underestimate the importance of seemingly little
things as putting food in your wife's mouth, opening the car's door for her,
etc. Remember that the Prophet used to extend his knee to his wife to help
her ride her camel...

Try to always find some time for both of you to pray together. Strengthening
the bond between you and God is the best guarantee that your own marital bond
would
always remain strong. Having peace with God will always result in having more
peace at home. Remember that the Prophet gave glad tidings for those couples
who wake up at night to pray together. The Prophet even urged the spouse who
rises up first to wake the other spouse up even by throwing cold water on
his/her face.

Always try your best to be good to your wife by words and by deeds. Talk to
her, smile to her, seek her advice, ask for her opinion, spend quality time
with her and always remember that the Prophet said "the best of you are those
who are best to their wives"

Finally, it is common that spouses vow to love and honor their spouses until
death do them part. I do believe that this vow is good or even great, but not
enough! It is not enough that you love your wife. You have to love what she
loves as well. Her family, her loved ones must also become your loved ones.
Don't be like my colleague who was unhappy about his wife's parents coming to
visit for few weeks. He candidly said to her "I don't like your parents"
Naturally she angrily looked at him straight in the eye and said " I don't
like yours either"... Also, it is not enough that you love her until death do
you part. Love should never end and we do believe there is life after death
where those who did righteousness in this world will be joined by their
spouses and offspring. The best example in this regard is the Prophet whose
love to Khadija his wife of 25 years extended to include all those she loved
and continued even after her death. It was many years after her death and he
never forgot her and whenever a goat was slaughtered in his house he would
send parts of it to Khadija's friends and whenever he felt that the visitor
on the door might be Khadija's sister Hala, he would pray saying "O Allah let
it be Hala"

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