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Fatwa CenterAbstaining from marriage for personal reasons
Question
Assalamu alaikum, Thank you very much for answering my questions. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala bless you for your kind efforts. I hope you don't mind me asking questions one after another. I am really scared about a lot of questions and you are answering many of them Alhamdulillah and helping me a lot. I am 21, male. For a personal reason I do not wish to marry. I do have physical desires and I was involved in some sort of bad things before, however I have repented and changed myself and Alhamdulillah I have no fear of falling into things like zina anymore. I read several fatwas here about marriage and I am worried about a few things. I know marriage is not obligatory for me as I don't fear committing adultery. However, in a fatwa you said that Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Sallam said, "Whoever dislikes to follow my Sunnah is not one from among my followers". Can you please explain why marriage is not obligatory when Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Sallam himself said that who does not like to do it is not from his followers? I am really worried about it. I would marry if I did not have a certain personal issue (it is not something small like study or job, it is very important and I care about it a lot and I cannot leave it. This is very secret, maybe I will tell you some day). I encourage others to marry and I like it when I see happy couples. But I personally do not want to get married (not in this life at least, but of course I want to do it in Jannah if I make it there in shaa Allah). So does the fact that I don't like to get married myself mean I am not a good Muslim? I read it in a hadeeth that marriage is half of one's religion because it helps him guard his modesty. If one's modesty is guarded already without marriage, then is it still needed for him to marry to complete his religion or is it already complete provided that he also does his other religious activities regularly? Thank you.
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, is His slave and Messenger.
Not being married does not necessarily indicate that someone is not a good Muslim; however, a Muslim should not abstain from marriage or procrastinate or delay it because our life span is limited. He or she may miss out on many of the great benefits of marriage for the sake of which Islam urges Muslims to get married.
The Hanbali scholar Al-Buhooti 
commented on the words of Al-Hajjaawi in his book Zaad Al-Mustaqni‘, “'For a person who has desire for sexual intercourse, marriage is better and more rewardable than performing voluntary acts of worship.' This is because of the benefits of marriage such as guarding his chastity and that of his wife, looking after her, reproduction, increasing the population of the Muslim Ummah, securing the boast of the Prophet Muhammad 
about the great number of his followers on the Day of Judgment, and other benefits.” [Ar-Rawdh Al-Murbi‘]
Given the great benefits of marriage, how could a Muslim not hasten to marriage? Allaah, The Exalted, says (what means): {… So, race to [all that is] good…}[Quran 2:148] Moreover, Allaah, The Exalted, may render marriage a means for a person to fulfill his objectives and aims in relation to his religion and his worldly life.
We have underlined the ruling on marriage in detail, highlighting the different scholarly opinions given people’s different conditions in Fataawa 84026 and 81853.
In the statement of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam: “…He who turns away from my Sunnah is not of me,” the meaning of “my Sunnah” in this context is the way of life and guidance; it may be obligatory or not.
Al-Haakim cited in his book Al-Mustadrak that Anas 
said: “Whomever Allaah blesses with a righteous wife, He has helped him with half of his religion, so let him fear Allaah with regard to the other half.” Al-Bayhaqi recorded in his book Shu’ab Al-Eemaan on the authority of Ar-Raqaashi that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “When a person gets married he has completed half of his religion, so let him fear Allaah with regard to the other half.” Al-Albaani commented on the two Ahaadeeth as, “Hasan (good) by way of corroboration.” [Saheeh At-Targheeb wa At-Tarheeb: 1916]
Allaah Knows best.
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