shadow of a greater and eternal truth. The real meaning and purpose of the
affectionate gesture is to acknowledge the reaffirmation of our trust in God
with the bi-lateral pleasures and joys of zawaj. Indeed, it is said that GOD
admonished the prophet’s wives not to remarry if they wished to share this
joy with him for eternity.^52 However, the eternal continuity of this hoped-for
utopian bliss – as evidenced in the universal micro-celebration of zawaj – is
absolutely contingent upon keeping the obligations and rights that make
house, home, bed and by extension, community, a most pleasant refuge of
peace and security in concordant recognition of the couple’s bilaterally unified
submission to Allah.
Unfortunately, warfare rages in many homes, and to such extents that a truce
called “denial” must be called in order to cross over the waste filled gender
divide in order to enjoy a ‘little touch’. For many, the battles are scarcely
more than belligerent prosecutions which defend traditional self attrition on
behalf of narcissists who pass for adults. Hence, the perversion of the pristine
romance as described above is a reformed mindset settled on self-gratification
with expectations of imagined need fulfillments to the exclusion of Allah's
remembrance and rights of the spouse. Therefore the Prophet said: "One
cannot truly be a Muslim until he/she desires for their neighbor what they
desire for themself.” It happens to be a fact that your spouse is your nearest
neighbor. Nevertheless, almost all Holly-Bolly-wood theatrics, both on and
off-screen, concern a puriently romanticized mating that pays naught but lip
52
"A woman (in paradise) is to the last of her husbands." (See: The collection of authentic
Hadith , Al Albany, vol. 3 p. 275).
Hudhayfah Bin Al-Yaman, a companion of the Prophet, said to his wife, "If you wish to be my
wife in Paradise, don't re-marry after I die, for a woman in paradise is for the last of her
husbands, and so Allah has prohibited the wives of the prophet to re-marry after him
because they are his wives in paradise too" (See: As-Sunan Al-Kubra , Al-Bayhaqi, vol. 7 p. 111).
'O you who believe! Enter not the Prophet's houses, unless permission is given to you for a
meal, (and then) not (so early as) to wait for its preparation. But when you are invited, enter,
and when you have taken your meal, disperse, without sitting for a talk. Verily, such
(behaviour) annoys the Prophet, and he is shy of (asking) you (to go), but Allâh is not shy of
(telling you) the truth. And when you ask (his wives) for anything you want, ask them from
behind a screen, that is purer for your hearts and for their hearts. And it is not (right) for you
that you should annoy Allâh's Messenger, nor that you should ever marry his wives after him
(his death). Verily! With Allâh that shall be an enormity (53) Whether you reveal anything or
conceal it, verily, Allâh is Ever All Knower of everything.
[(Verses 53,24 of Sura Al-Ahzab (33)]