MuslimMatters.org Discourses in the Intellectual Traditions, Political Situation, and Social Ethics of Muslim Life

“The sisters would be interested, if they noticed any guys who would act mature. The main complaint I’m hearing on the girls’ side is that the guys aren’t acting like candidates that the girls would be interested in. For example, today when the shaykh mentioned the phrase “second wife,” the brothers started giggling and high-fiving like...boys! Just watch for the next couple of days and tell me what you think.” Read More »

When you shop for your spouse, what will you look for, who will you ask, and what questions or discussions will follow? Length? Width? Color? Perhaps. The sunnah in Islam is to find out... Read More »

In my mind, if I were to be asked this question, I would reply back and say, Uncle, when you married your wife, how much money did you have in your account? Of course that will result to an automatic rejection, but that is besides the point. Read More »

My wife had a bit of sore throat today and needed some rest.  Normally, I'd watch the kids (destroy the house) and order food for lunch and dinner, but today my wife had a different request. “So what are you preparing for lunch today?” She wanted a homecooked meal, and the last ... Read More »

Yup, that's right - this article is about the two most popular subjects on everyone's minds right now... Ramadhaan AND marriage! Is that a gasp of shock I hear? Eyes widened with surprise? An uncomfortable silence (or perhaps more vocal outrage) because you think that the already sensitive and ever-so-slightly taboo issue of marriage has nothing to do with something as sacred and holy as Ramadhaan? Ah, but that's where you're wrong! Read More »

After over 18 months of being married by nikaḥ kitāba, today marks the day my wife and I will be having our "ruksathi" wedding party after which will begin to live our lives together forever, inshaAllah. After a wonderful year and a half of a beautiful relationship Allah blessed us with, we came up with what we feel is an essential survival guide for couples undergoing the same journey we just completed. If you are married by nikāḥ kitāba or will be in the future, then this list is for you. Read More »

I don't necessarily agree with the idea that there are too few good Muslim men; at least in relation to the numbers of good Muslim women. In this case, "good" refers to those who have an appreciation of the deen, but also know how to function in dunya, without resorting to the haram. Most of the guys I have met through the rishta scene (i.e., those I was introduced to via my parents) have been decent chaps, masha'Allah. I have very few (if any) horror stories to share, alhamdulillah. However, I do agree with the idea that for some reason, educated Muslim women are finding it hard to find a suitable match. Read More »

The Toronto Star has had a flurry of articles recently regarding polygamy in the Muslim community. The environment that we live in is one that is marred by misrepresentation of Muslims, especially in national media. While many hope that we will have more Muslims involved in fields such as journalism to help combat this, it does not help when Muslims write about Muslim issues that can be construed to contributing to the problem instead of the solution. Read More »

Many practicing Muslims on the verge of having a wedding party find themselves struggling with how to set up the big day. They don’t want it fully mixed between genders, but should the party be fully be separated with a partition? Or is just segregated the seating on different sides okay? The following article, from www.themuslimhousewife.com, touches on this issue with a very eye opening personal story (and a cameo by Shaykh Yasir Qadhi!). Read More »

In my career as an instructor of "Fiqh of Love" and "Love Notes" with AlMaghrib Institute, the activity and survey sessions conducted in the class environment included many personal questions submitted by students (both men and women), regarding marriage and marital life. Through this, and the overwhelming marriage counseling sessions and advices given in the course of the past four to five years, I was able to collect enough data and statistics to open a window on the status of social life in the Muslim community in America and provide an insight into the crisis of marriage we face here. The findings com from multiple locations all around the country including places such as Houston, New Jersey, New York, Chicago, The Bay Area and elsewhere - and the results were startling. The marriage crisis is a big crisis indeed, and while many of our respected older generation are unaware of it, or at least act like that, the youth were left helpless and sometimes hopeless. Read More »