The Leader’s Advice To Young Couples Before Getting Married
The Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, despite his manifold preoccupations, does – in his capacity as an Islamic Mujtahid – take on the duty of marrying young couples every now and then. The following is what he told couples about to get married on one such occasion in 1999:
In the Name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful, before pronouncing you man and wife, I would like to say a few words to the bride, the bridegroom and their respected families. First of all I should say that the immediate result of pronouncing you as husband and wife is the establishment of a divine relationship. True that it is also the most natural of human relations, yet God has made this very natural, instinctive relation a sacred relationship which will bear fruits of immense value. Thus the importance of forming a family should never be underestimated.
One of the cardinal sins committed by the West today is the fact that marriage and family formation has been belittled and discredited. The Western civilization treats this significant institution, this great bond between a man and a woman, as something banal or ordinary as changing one’s clothes or going to a different shop! From this viewpoint individual emotions, tastes and instinctive feelings are set against the continuity of family relationships. So whenever one partner feels differently about something and as soon as marriage partners face some problem or shortcoming, if one of the two fancies something more pleasant, then the foundation of the family institution will be threatened! But Islam does not condone such behaviour. The family in Islam is based on a most solid foundation. It recommends that you should first be most careful in choosing a decent, honest, compatible partner for your life and that you will then exert utmost care for the happy continuity and preservation of this greatest of human relationships. You must do your best to care for this new relation, as you may cater for a young shoot, so that it would grow into a beautiful, productive tree leaving sweet fruits.
In this respect, it will be irrelevant at what financial, scientific or professional level you happen to be, for the basic human emotions, with regard to marriage and family formation, are almost the same for a scientist, an academic, a sportsman or a simple labourer… because these instinctive feelings and principal needs are the same in all human beings. Neither would the rich or the poor differ in this respect. Both partners would like their home to be a haven of safety, comfort and peace of mind after finishing their daily tasks. All husbands and all wives have such wishes and expectations for their married lives: a happy, sweet atmosphere for both of them. They may be engaged in business, in politics, in housework and in raising children, no matter how they have divided their duties and tasks, both are tired whether one does work at home or the other comes back from work, both of them expect a cheerful family environment, and it is a very justified expectation.
It is not a question of how well-to-do you happen to be. Many a rich person may not enjoy a happy family life: his life could be full of strifes, jealousies and wrongful expectations. A man or a woman in a position of power who orders people about may be faced with many personal problems at home, he or she may have a bad-tempered, incongruous, lazy partner. Therefore, such matters as wealth, social titles, living in cities or in the rural areas do not change the familial atmosphere if the couple are not understanding and compromising in their private relations with each other.
Thus it is that the Holy Quran says:
“He it has been Who did create you from a single being,
and He made its mate of the same kind,
so that you may find peace with each other… ”
(Sura:7-Verse:189)
The Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, despite his manifold preoccupations, does – in his capacity as an Islamic Mujtahid – take on the duty of marrying young couples every now and then. The following is what he told couples about to get married on one such occasion in 1999:
In the Name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful, before pronouncing you man and wife, I would like to say a few words to the bride, the bridegroom and their respected families. First of all I should say that the immediate result of pronouncing you as husband and wife is the establishment of a divine relationship. True that it is also the most natural of human relations, yet God has made this very natural, instinctive relation a sacred relationship which will bear fruits of immense value. Thus the importance of forming a family should never be underestimated.
One of the cardinal sins committed by the West today is the fact that marriage and family formation has been belittled and discredited. The Western civilization treats this significant institution, this great bond between a man and a woman, as something banal or ordinary as changing one’s clothes or going to a different shop! From this viewpoint individual emotions, tastes and instinctive feelings are set against the continuity of family relationships. So whenever one partner feels differently about something and as soon as marriage partners face some problem or shortcoming, if one of the two fancies something more pleasant, then the foundation of the family institution will be threatened! But Islam does not condone such behaviour. The family in Islam is based on a most solid foundation. It recommends that you should first be most careful in choosing a decent, honest, compatible partner for your life and that you will then exert utmost care for the happy continuity and preservation of this greatest of human relationships. You must do your best to care for this new relation, as you may cater for a young shoot, so that it would grow into a beautiful, productive tree leaving sweet fruits.
In this respect, it will be irrelevant at what financial, scientific or professional level you happen to be, for the basic human emotions, with regard to marriage and family formation, are almost the same for a scientist, an academic, a sportsman or a simple labourer… because these instinctive feelings and principal needs are the same in all human beings. Neither would the rich or the poor differ in this respect. Both partners would like their home to be a haven of safety, comfort and peace of mind after finishing their daily tasks. All husbands and all wives have such wishes and expectations for their married lives: a happy, sweet atmosphere for both of them. They may be engaged in business, in politics, in housework and in raising children, no matter how they have divided their duties and tasks, both are tired whether one does work at home or the other comes back from work, both of them expect a cheerful family environment, and it is a very justified expectation.
It is not a question of how well-to-do you happen to be. Many a rich person may not enjoy a happy family life: his life could be full of strifes, jealousies and wrongful expectations. A man or a woman in a position of power who orders people about may be faced with many personal problems at home, he or she may have a bad-tempered, incongruous, lazy partner. Therefore, such matters as wealth, social titles, living in cities or in the rural areas do not change the familial atmosphere if the couple are not understanding and compromising in their private relations with each other.
Thus it is that the Holy Quran says:
“He it has been Who did create you from a single being,
and He made its mate of the same kind,
so that you may find peace with each other… ”
(Sura:7-Verse:189)
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