• Man — is man the noblest creature?
We are called the noblest of all creatures, but we are the most cruel creatures on earth and we indulge in ruthless criminal activities. Indeed, the atrocities committed by man are worse than anything any animal can do. In what respect, then, are we the best creatures?
Not every human being can be included among the best of creation. Allah says in the Qur'an: "We brought him down to the lowest of the low, except for those who believe and do righteous deeds." (95; 4-6) These verses make it clear that human beings can rise to the highest level a creature can attain, but can also sink to the lowest depth. What determines man's elevation or fall is his response to Allah's message and his implementation of the divine law.
Yet when you look at man, you find that he has been given a noble status and a high prospect. Allah has distinguished him with the intellect. He has given him freedom of choice. He took care of him so that he is not abandoned to his own devices. Allah has sent him messengers to show him the way to the fulfillment of his potentials and the achievement of the highest level of humanity. The messengers explained divine guidance to mankind and provided a practical code of living which has been given its complete and perfect form in the message of Islam. Therefore, when human beings implement Islam, they reach their highest level. When they abandon Allah's guidance, they sink into the depth of ignorance in which Satan tries hard to keep them.
This means in effect that when a human being employs his reason to reflect and then, on reflection, he adopts the divine faith and with his own free will tries to implement the divine code of living, he certainly attains the most noble level any creature can achieve. When he chooses the opposite way, he sinks down to the level of pagan evil. There are different grades in between these two extremes. Human beings can choose any of these grades. In short there is no divine right which gives man a highest noble status. Man can achieve that only through diligent work in the implementation of Allah's law.
• Marriage: A Sunnah & those who do not marry
I know a Hadith which states clearly that marriage is part of the Sunnah of the Prophet and whoever turns away from the Sunnah does not belong to him. In our country, a well-known person who works hard for the implementation of Islam has never married. How far would you say that this Hadith applies to this person?
The answer is that I do not know. Some of my readers like to put to me unanswerable questions, like this one. They may have some justification, but in this case, there seems to be a very enthusiastic desire on the part of my reader to see a conscientious implementation of the personal Islamic code by all Muslims, particularly those who stand up for the cause of Islam. What is unfortunate about such enthusiasm is that it may lead to the adoption of a very rigid interpretation of different Islamic rules.
The Hadith states very clearly that marriage is part of the Sunnah of the Prophet. The term "Sunnah" in Arabic means, "method, way, practice, etc." In an Islamic context, it means the practice chosen by the Prophet and recommended by him to be followed by all Muslims, to earn additional reward by Allah. The encouragement by the Prophet may take the form of a verbal recommendation or exhortation, or setting a practical example. If it is the latter, then the more consistently the Prophet used to follow a particular practice, the stronger is the emphasis that all Muslims should follow suit. When the recommendation or encouragement takes the form of a verbal statement, then we can judge by the emphasis the Prophet places on his statement the sort of importance he attaches to it. In the case of marriage, we need only remember the Hadith you have quoted to realize that the Prophet has attached much importance to marriage.
Nevertheless, when we say that a particular practice is a Sunnah, we preclude any suggestion that it is obligatory. Let me give you a very clear example.
We know that the Prophet was very keen to offer two voluntary Rak'ahs, i.e. Sunnah, before the obligatory prayer of Fajr. Indeed, he is not known to have missed these two Rak'ahs on any occasion. There can be no stronger encouragement or recommendation for us to follow his example. Nevertheless, if we suppose that a Muslim does not offer these two voluntary rak'ahs at all, throughout his life, he does not commit a sin. He will not be asked by Allah why he has not offered them. Scholars say that the Prophet may remonstrate with him on the day of Judgment, but reprehensible as his attitude is, it does not expose him to any punishment in the life to come.
Consider now the Hadith that you have quoted. The Prophet says that marriage is his chosen practice. That means that marriage is not obligatory to Muslims. The Prophet certainly emphasizes greatly the importance he attaches to this practice, but the person he describes as not belonging to him is the one who takes a deliberate choice in opposition to the Prophet's practice.
When we come to the application of this Hadith to individuals, we should know where to stop. No one can claim that he knows the full circumstances and the inner thoughts of another person, close to him as he may be. This man may have some personal or family reasons which might have delayed his marriage when he was a young man. He may still have some personal reasons to prevent him from marriage. If he does not object to marriage as a principle, then he commits no sin. On our part, we should be careful what to say about other people and we must surely not judge them on appearances.
Some old men in their seventies marry young girls who are still in their early twenties or younger. Do you think that there is some injustice done to such young women? Is there any remedy to such a situation?
There is certainly much injustice if the girl is forced to accept such a marriage. It does happen that a wealthy old man proposes to a young woman and her family review the marriage as a method which could rid them of their poverty. They persuade or force their daughter to accept the marriage caring very little for her feelings or her future. If the case is such, then it is a case of blatant injustice and it should be stopped.
On the other hand, if the girl goes into such a marriage with open eyes and with full agreement, then the marriage is simply a contract between two competent persons. Since it is a contract to something which is halal or permissible in Islam, it is perfectly permissible. It may be that the girl goes into such a marriage hoping to have a good share of the inheritance of her husband. This does not disallow or invalidate the marriage, because neither she nor anyone else could tell how soon the man would die. It is perfectly possible that she dies before him.
The remedy to such a situation is the full implementation of Islam, which means that no family should live in a standard of poverty which compels it to marry away its girls to rich old people to improve their situation. In Islam, the system of social security ensures that.