Islam's Response to Contemporary Issues — Page 97
Social Peace 97 situations of imbalance, insurmountable difficulties and frustrations. Imagine a small country of one million men of marriageable age and almost the same number of women. If this provision was taken to be an injunction to be followed to the letter of the law by all, then, at best, 250,000 men will marry one million women and 750,000 men will be left without a wife. Yet, among all the religions of the world, Islam stands out in its emphasis on marriage for every man and woman. The Holy Quran describes the relationship between a husband and wife as based on love by nature and providing a source of peace for each other: And lawful for you are chaste believing women and chaste women from among those who were given the Book before you, when you give them their dowries, contracting valid marriages, not committing fornication, nor taking secret paramours. 26 At the same time, the Holy Quran rejects celibacy declaring it to be a man-made institution. 27 There is nothing to be gained from shutting oneself from the rest of the world or from punishing oneself by denying natural desires. The institution of marriage is well established in Islam, but time does not permit me to digress and discuss the various requirements of choosing marriage partners, the remedies available and the regulations of divorce, etc. To return to polygamy, it is evident from a study of the Holy Quran that a special situation of a post-war period is being discussed. It is a time when a society is left with a large number of orphans and