Fighting for love

A Muslim man is permitted to marry anyone he likes of the women whom
Allaah has allowed him to marry, but he is encouraged to marry a Muslim woman who is
religious and has a good moral character (because this is the basis of true happiness).
Similarly, he is permitted to marry a chaste woman of the People of the Book, i.e., Jews
and Christians. Another basis for a happy marriage is that his parents should be pleased
with his choice of bride, and part of the way in which parents show their love and
kindness towards their son is by helping him to get married, whether financially or in
other ways. As regards what you say about striving and fighting for the sake of love, we
should stop and think about this matter carefully. We believe that feeling love for a
particular woman is not the be-all and end-all in a Muslim’s life, for which he
should give up everything that matters to him. No way! The Muslim is wise and pays
attention to everything that is in his interests, such as the woman’s religious
commitment and moral character, his parents’ approval, his own honour and reputation
among people, the future of the marriage and its potential to endure, whether any bad
things will result from his marriage to a particular woman and whether this outweighs his
interests, the environment in which the children of the marriage will grow up, the nature
of his future in-laws with whom he will have to mix, etc. It is not the matter of a
fleeting desire, rather it is the matter of one’s future and eventual destiny.

Finally, we say that the love of a woman is not
some god to be worshipped, rather it is a matter that is governed by the laws of the One
God, Allaah, the Lord of the Worlds.