The Quran gives great importance to the institution of marriage. According to the Quran, the home is the first unit of any society, and is the primary source of all kinds of valuable experiences. If the home is good, then the whole of society will automatically emerge as a good society.
In the chapter Al-Rum (The Romans) the Quran gives basic guidelines in this regard. The translation of one of these verses is as follows:
Another of His signs is that He created for you from among yourselves spouses, so that you might find repose in them, and He created between you affection and kindness. Truly there are signs in this for people who reflect. (30:21)
In these verses, the Quran reveals an important law of nature, that is, that a man and a woman are the counterparts of each other. According to a saying of the Prophet, men and women are two equal halves of a single unit. (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith No. 26195) A man and a woman as a pair can fulfil the real purpose of human life.
According to this, man and woman are spiritual partners to each other. Mutual love and affection are the binding forces for both. Starting life as a pair enables them to have experiences of an elevated nature. In their daily meetings, they can share spiritual experiences and through discussion they can plan their lives on a spiritual basis. They can find time for joint study. They can together embark on discovering broader areas of the spiritual world.
Both men and women are like cogwheels. One cog cannot move the wheel: the wheel of life can be moved only with the joint effort of both.
But there is a price to be paid for this. This price, in a single word, is none other than adjustment. The fact is that in spite of all their similarities, both have been born with differences. There is no uniformity in the scheme of things in nature. So, we have no option but to learn the art of difference management.
One’s failure in this regard is tantamount to failure in life itself. If you want to develop your spirituality, try to adjust with your spouse. Spirituality is the highest goal one can aim to achieve. Without spirituality, both man and woman are incomplete. Spirituality gives you wisdom and strength. And both are necessary to have a successful life.
Source: Discover Islam
