Marriage: Intellectual Partnership

MARRIAGE IN ISLAM one should try to understand how a woman relates to this goal in life. God has created women to support man in life, just as the field supports the farmer in the subsistence of life. This verse of the Quran was revealed in Makkah at a time when people debated the role of women in life. People in those days knew only two things about women: sexual satisfaction and the continuation of the human race. But the Quran says that over and above those two things, a woman extends a supporting hand in building a successful life. Therefore, man should utilize this provision, be gifted by nature, and work at building successful lives for themselves. Any other concept of a woman—less dignified than this—belittles a woman’s position. A man and a woman come together in marriage so that they may unitedly play their part in building a more significant role in human life. When a man is born into this world, he is like iron ore, raw in form. Nature has produced him like ore, and he must develop himself on his own. Nature produces ore; man has to convert it into steel. This means he has to develop his personality through intellectual and spiritual development to make it a developed personality. Intellectual and spiritual development is of the utmost importance in this development process. In developing one’s personality, the most important thing is for man to broaden his mind by awakening his consciousness. Three things are required to awaken one’s consciousness: study,