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Talking about the most pious relationship that Allah has set for Muslims is Nikah. When Nikah is complete, it gives a number of rights to both husband and wife over one another. Starting from the right to live with one another and share every big and small thing with each other, Nikah also has some special details about the physical relationship between a husband and a wife.
Concerning this, some conditions relating to Nikah are misunderstood by a lot of people in our society. One such condition is virginity. Virginity is not a condition for marriage but it is a recommended quality- provided that one who intends to marry has both the options in front of him. Furthermore, that the women being considered are equal in other respects. Virginity then becomes a weighing factor for a number of reasons that we will talk about in the following section.
We will reflect on one of the Hadith in Islam so as the readers become more comfortable with we are trying to explain to them.
Jabir Bin Abdillah R.A. reported that when his father died, he left behind nine girls that Jabir had to look after. Soon after the death of his father, Jabir married a non-virgin. To this, after meeting Jabir, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) asked Jabir, ‘Have you married, O Jabir?’ He replied to the Prophet (Peace be upon him), ‘Yes’. He then asked him, ‘Is she virgin or non-virgin?’. He replied, ‘non-virgin’.
The Prophet (Peace be upon him) then said,
“Should not you have considered a virgin who plays with you and you with her, and she laughs with you and you with her.”
Jabir replied, “Indeed, my father ‘Abdullah died leaving many daughters to be looked after. I did not want to add to them another young girl like themselves, so I married a grown woman to take care of them and look after them.”
Allah’s Messenger, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) then said, after listening to Jabir’s reason,
“Indeed, you have made a good decision. May Allah bless that tremendously for you.”
[al-Bukhari, Muslim, and others]
Thus, this Hadith throws light upon the condition of virginity in Nikah. We hope that the misconception regarding the same will be clearer now.
