Choosing your life partner
When it comes to life decisions, choosing your spouse is among the most important ones you will ever make. It is a decision that will have a major impact, not only on your life, but also on your future wife and those who are close to you.
Marriage completes half your Islam. It is a sacred contract in the presence of Allah that compels you to make commitments never before asked of you, whether you are male or female.
When selecting your life partner, you may want to consider the following points.
What am I like? – Be honest with yourself with regard to your personality. Do not pretend to be robust and outgoing and seek a partner of similar values if, in reality, you are meek and mild. And vice-versa.
Don’t expect perfection – No one is perfect. Your future husband or wife may have model good looks, PhDs and high eemaan, but there will be flaws that you won’t spot until after you are married.
Seek opinions – When it comes to marriage, Islam allows you to seek references. You want to obtain a general profile of your potential partner without going too deep into his or her personality.
Family – Remember, when you marry someone, you marry their family. Meet family members, talk to them, spend time with them and get to know the environment you are about to commit your life to.
Good match – This is a cliché but it is still the main criteria in successful marriages. You do not want extremes if personalities in your partners. It is rare to find someone with the exact same interests as you, so look for two or three traits that you like and focus on those. A husband and wife should complement each other, not oppose each other.
Muslims around the world have different ways of finding spouses. In the subcontinent, the tradition of arranged marriages is still going strong.
In this culture, parents or close relatives may hear of a good prospective groom or bride. With the permission on the boy or girl, they will make an approach to the father...