Search In Fatwa

If needed, one should not wait to get a job before getting married

Question

I have saved around 23000 dollars, quit my job as an IT project manager and I will migrate to Australia within 2 weeks as I don't have the right to remain in the country where I live currently (Saudi Arabia) permanently and the situation in my home country (Sudan) is very bad. This amount will allow me to stay there for 6 months. My question is,,,,should I start searching for a wife and get married as soon as possible when I arrive in Australia to guard myself and my religion (Islam) following the islamic advice of "seek wealth in marriage" and the verse from Quran "And marry the unmarried among you and the righteous among your male slaves and female slaves. If they should be poor, Allah will enrich them from His bounty, and Allah is all-Encompassing and Knowing." or do I wait until I find a job? Taking into consideration that I will also be freelancing in the morning and searching for jobs at night but I cannot expect whether freelancing will bring in money soon or it will take sometime. So, should I search for a wife and get married while searching for a job in these 6 months. Or do I wait until I find a job or until I start bringing in money consistently from my freelancing AFTER THAT I think about marriage?

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and messenger.

If you need to get married, then it is better to hasten to marry and not wait until you get a job to earn a living from it. Ibn Qudaamah  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him said: "…According to the apparent meaning of the statements of Ahmed  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him there is no difference between one who is capable of providing maintenance and one who is incapable of providing maintenance [when it comes to marriage]. He further said that a man should marry, and if one possesses enough to provide, then he should provide [it], and if he does not have it, then he should have patience (over poverty). He (Imaam Ahmad) provided as evidence the fact that the Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) would not sometimes find anything [in his possession] as the morning and evening came. He also said that he  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) conducted the marriage of a man who only had an iron ring [to give as dowry] and he only had an Izaar (lower garment) and he did not have a Ridaa’ (an upper garment). [Al- Bukhari] Ahmed said about a man who is able to earn little and who wishes to get married but fears not to be able to afford to provide for his children: "Allaah will provide for them. Marriage is more chaste for him. There may come a time when he cannot control his heart." This applies to someone who can afford to get married, as regards the one who cannot afford to get married, Allaah says (what means): {But let them who find not [the means for] marriage abstain [from sexual relations] until Allaah enriches them from His bounty.} [Quran 24:33]” [Excerpted from Al-Mughni 7/334]

Allaah Knows best.

Related Fatwa