A woman said, "A few months after my marriage, I got pregnant by the Bounty of Allah. Now, I am waiting for my first baby, fully looking forward to seeing and embracing it and to the new life with my children."
Another woman said, "Thirteen years after marriage – and they were very difficult – Allah granted me two children. They were twins: a boy and a girl. I was about to die of happiness with this great blessing that Allah had not given me and my husband of all those long years."
A man said, "After marriage, my wife was unable to give birth to a baby, so we started receiving treatment. I spent a lot of money to treat my wife till she finally got pregnant after five years. Allah The Almighty granted us a baby girl and within two years we had a baby boy. What a beautiful life we now have after having children! You do not know how happy we are when the children are playing around us. Children indeed are a piece of us and the comfort of our eyes!"
Dear readers,
Allah The Almighty has legislated marriage for a sublime wisdom and noble objectives, which include: marriage is the legitimate means to satisfy one's sexual desires, preservation of the human race, protecting progeny from intermixing and the foundation of a pure society where virtue prevails and vice decreases. At the outset, we stress that Islam does not legislate anything except for a sublime wisdom and with noble meanings. In this article, we attempt to present some aims and objectives which are achieved through marriage. They are classified into two categories:
1- Objectives in this life
2- Objectives in the Hereafter
There are five objectives in this life
1- Preservation of progeny
2- Continuation of succession on earth and inhabiting it
3- Capacity (bearing responsibility)
4- Chastity and decency
5- Pleasure and comfort of the eyes and tranquility
The objectives of marriage with regard to the Hereafter are
1- Worshipping Allah The Almighty
2- Imitating the Prophet,
3- Supplication of the righteous child for his parents
4- A child's death before his father entitles the father to intercession
5- A righteous wife assists her husband with his journey to the Hereafter
We previously mentioned some of these objectives, and here we will elaborate upon the preservation of progeny. Let us start with a divine fact presented in the following verse. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {Wealth and children are [but] adornment of the worldly life.}[Quran 18:46] Allah The Almighty states this fact very clearly, provided it is one of the worthwhile everlasting values. Children and wealth are the adornment of this life, and Islam does not prohibit Muslims from enjoying this adornment as long as it is limited to what is lawful. Man, by nature, loves adornment because Allah The Almighty beautified for people love of children. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {Beautified for people is the love of that which they desire - of women and sons.} [Quran 3:14] One sees these spouses very happy when they watch their children, young or adult, whether they are moving or still, or coming or going. Children are pieces of us. Under marriage, the emotion of fatherhood and motherhood develops as well as the emotion of affection and love – a sort of emotion which encouraged a female doctor to say, "Take my coats and everything I have, and just let me hear the word, 'Mum'" This emotion made a lot of spouses spend every precious kind of wealth to have this beautiful dream come true. Certainly, the child satisfies and realizes the instinct of motherhood and fatherhood, and is an extension of his parents. By children, the foundations of the family premise are complete: a husband, a wife and children.
Building the family
Building the family is necessary for the establishment of this religion, as the family is the first brick in the society whose foundation is a successful marriage which is built on sound principles and direct objectives. The most important of these objectives is offspring. Marriage is the best way to have children, multiply one's offspring, and continue this life along with the preservation of progeny that Islam pays great attention to. Multiplicity of offspring brings about public and private benefits which urged nations to increase the number of its people by giving allowances to those who increase the number of their families and children. In the past, people would say, "Glory lies with those of the largest families," and this fact truly exists and nothing breaks it.
What do you think of children?
Al-Ahnaf ibn Qays visited Mu‘aawiyah, may Allah be pleased with him, while his son Yazeed was in his presence and Mu‘aawiyah was looking at him in admiration. He said, "O Abu Bahr, what do you think of children?" Al-Ahnaf, may Allah be pleased with him, summed up his determination and said, “O commander of the believers, children are the support of our backs, the fruits of our hearts and the comfort of our eyes. We attack our enemies with the support of our children and they are our successors for the coming generations. Be an easy earth and a shadowing sky to them. Give to them when they ask you, and grant them your pleasure when they seek it. Do not withhold your bounty from them lest they become weary of your closeness, dislike your life and find your death slow.”
Mu‘aawiyah said, "How excellent you are, Abu Bahr! Children are exactly as you have described them."