Marriage is a social institution as old as the human race itself. It may be defined as a relation between a man and a woman which is recognised by custom or law and involves certain rights and duties, both in the case of the parties entering the Union, and in case of the children born of it. Marriage has thus two main functions to perform: The rites and ceremonies of marriage have been different with different peoples and in different ages.
It always implies the right of sexual intercourse as allowed and recognised by society and the duties of the parents in bringing up children. Islam recognises this institution and accepts it as the basis of human society after purging it of all those evils which had penetrated it. Firstly, Islam does not regard it as a union only for the gratification of sexual lost, but a social contract with wide and varied responsibilities and duties. The reason behind it is that, according to the Divine Faith, a woman is not a plaything in the hand of man.
The wife is, therefore, not meant. The Holy Qur'an has in so many verses pointed out the different purposes of marriage. In this verse it has been said that the female is not inferior to the male in the sense that the former is created out of a superior stuff while the latter comes of a base origin.
Both man and woman are the progeny of Adam and thus both have the same soul. The purpose of marriage, according to the Holy Qur'an, is therefore, the union of the two souls which are one in essence. Their separate existence is an unnatural state of their being which changes Into the natural state when they are united by marriage and thus are brought close to each other physically, mentally and emotionally. Both man and woman are the joint heirs of the grace of life, and unless there is a very close and intimate form of companionship in them, they cannot enjoy the true grace of life.
It is not too much to say that the whole conception of the marriage relation in Islam is charged with spiritual and moral ideas, and must of necessity elevate the status of matrimonial alliance in the individual and social life. In Islam the union of the sexes has been purified and the joy of the married relation secured by the absolute prohibition of every kind of extra-matzimonial connection. The Holy Qur'an stresses upon the people to marry as it is the most effective means whereby one can lead a virtuous life free from immorality and emotional inhibition.
