The Sanctity Of Nikah

Marriage is an institution in itself. The idea of family that humans have accepted and adopted since times immemo­rial is directly the product of this institution of marriage. It provides humans with an organized way of running life and also con­structs social dealings and behaviors in many ways. Islam bestows mankind with the concept of Nikah and there are different schools of thought in Muslims who hold their views regarding marriage and its rel­evance in the current times. They all have their own perspectives in identifying its importance and the solutions which can help in solving the modern riddle of social dynamics in which marriage plays an essential role. Islam is the only religion in which marriage is done as a contract which becomes binding on both the sexes until they decide to break it given the situation and circumstances. The essence of marriage is to provide with and maintain individual as well as social tranquility and balance, thus avoiding chaos at all levels of life. The concept of legitimacy is one of the key factors for which Nikah is performed in Islam, unlike many other religions where marriage is not must to prove the legiti­macy of a child. Thus Nikah in Islam serves a bigger purpose that is to uphold and maintain a moral and legitimate society in which the limits of human dignity are not transgressed by the biological instincts and desires of people.

The evolution of family and its legiti­macy dates back to the period when Proph­et Muhammad (SAW) gave the message of Islam to mankind. The bestowment of Nikah, came as a proper guideline to con­duct marriage and maintain a legitimate family, which gets the consent of God and society. This legitimacy helped in creating moral and humanistic societies which were not confused and scattered socially as were before the coming of the Prophet (SAW) and also continued to flourish through­out the middle ages.

The modern and the post modern ages saw the overpowering of conflicts and set ups based on intense economic competition, which resulted in the deterioration of soci­eties and many elements which shape them. Marriage as an institution also met a serious blow at the hands of the neo- colonial na­ture of the modern set ups that ultimately resulted in using this sacred institution as a means of acquiring material benefits and the ignorance of creating a social balance between people.

The basic purpose behind Nikah is to make the life of both the male and female easy viz a viz their physical, emotional, psychological and social requirements. The way in which Islam presents an individual with the opportunity of meeting such re­quirements as mentioned is so simple and appealing that it empowers him or her with certain rights and also duties which make it easy for him or her to conduct this affair of daily life. ‘Islam says that when both the girl and boy reach the age of puberty, they must be allowed to marry. Islam teaches both men and women how to discipline their physical instincts and desires through Nikah, and also how to channelize these physical requirements which are natural in humans’, says Muhammad Abdullah Wani, President, Jamaat – e – Islami.

In our times the sanctity of this institu­tion of Nikah is not the same that used to be or what really the Islamic concept of marriage is. Nowadays marriage is not done with the purposes mentioned above but for unending material gains which directly re­duces the balancing feature of this sacred institution. The unabated economic pur­poses behind the conducting of Nikah in our society has undermined and frustrated the true meaning and objective of this build­ing block of the society. Hence many boys and girls are left unmarried as they become over-aged due to the material cravings our society has fallen into. ‘The reasons our youth fall into illegitimate relations and many become over-aged is the lackadaisi­cal attitude of the elders of our society that they don’t stress upon the fact that marriage of their children should be done on time and not delayed. Also the unending eco­nomic objectives of the people which includes dowry as the main purpose behind marriage destroy the very sanctity of Nikah’, said, Muhammad Abdullah Wani.

Nikah which helps the youth to keep up with the problems of day to day life is not taken as a remedy and also it is not given the due priority which it deserves in the lives of individuals. On the other hand issues that can be dealt with in the due course of time are made to seem more important than this basic necessity and hence the timeliness of Nikah is lost. ‘The main reason behind the late marriages in our societies is the thinking of parents and some youths as well. They feel that they should first complete their studies and start to earn first, after that the marriage is to be done. But Islam doesn’t teach us this, students can marry while studying, it doesn’t harm them, in fact its helpful for them, it is like the medicine to a person who is suf­fering from headache or fever, the marriage in the age of 30-40 doesn’t help to build a society. What it does is that it makes youth opt for wrong means of satisfying their needs that has severe affects on their lives and society at large. Divorces, eve teasing, molestation and rapes are the outcome of late marriages, said Aga Mohammad Ishaq Ashrafi, Principle Madrassa Ichgam, Budgam.

The intrusion of various negative ele­ments in the Kashmiri culture which do not form a part of the Islamic Nikah has also become a massive force in deciding the structure of and ways in which marriage is conducted. It has become a habit of the people to compete in spending lavishly in marriages and the level of extravagance which often touches the skies is the main reason behind the deterioration of this in­stitution. ‘Only a microscopic minority among the people is ready to conduct marriage in a simple and Islamic way and most of the people do it according to the cultural tradi­tions rather than in an Islamic way. So they indulge in extravagancy and the real essence of Nikah is lost’, said Mufti Muhammad Yaqoob Baba, of the Jamiat – e – Ahle Hadith. There are also various customs and ritualistic practices carried on by the people of Kashmir which are not a part and parcel of the Islamic Nikah. ‘The concept of Bara­at is only in vogue in the Sub- Continent among Muslims, it is not the Islamic char­acteristic of marriage. There are many such practices which have been borrowed from other religions and cultures that do not form a part of Nikah’, says Mufti Muhammad Yaqoob Baba.

Adhering to ritualism and extravagance for show off rather than stressing on the main idea behind Nikah, which is to strength­en the unit of family and hence building a society based on the fundamentals of mo­rality and decency, downplays with the essence of marriage as preached and given by Islam. This is an established fact that the implications of how marriages are conducted in our society today are disas­trous, but the question remains that why don’t we maintain the Sanctity of Nikah, which In its purest form can act as a tool for eradication of many social problems?