The Nikah Has Many Benefits And Is A Protection From Fornication – Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan

The Nikah is from the ways of Allah with regard to his creation, between the children of Adam, male and female.

With it there are great benefits, from them: chastity of the two spouses, one to the other; to fulfill what is required from the husband towards his wife; the husband taking care of his wife; and protecting her. From it is also the fulfilling of the desires of both sexes and from it is having children. There are many benefits from Nikah…

The most important thing is that it keeps you chaste from adultery, from fornication and the loss of lineage, and from the corruption of moral uprightness. There is the protection of one’s health.

As for adultery and fornication then their end place is in epidemics and in lethal illnesses, as is well-known.

وَلَا تَقْرَبُوا الزِّنَا إِنَّهُ كَانَ فَاحِشَةً وَسَاءَ سَبِيلًا ٣٢

And come not near to unlawful sexual intercourse. Verily, it is a Fahishah [i.e. anything that transgresses its limits (a great sin)], and an evil way (that leads one to Hell unless Allah forgives him).

[Surah Al-'Isrā':32]

With it there is the loss of lineage, the spread of illnesses, the loss of modesty and chastity. With it there are great harms; fornication, we seek refuge with Allah, what an evil way. The harms of fornication are not limited.

With Nikah, there is a protection from fornication and from its harms, and all praises are due to Allah. Nikah produces offspring. As for fornication then it is a loss. The offspring from fornication have no father and no lineage, and we seek refuge with Allah. Lost… This is from the disadvantages of fornication.

He (Allah) didn’t say don’t fornicate, he said don’t come close to it, ‘don’t come near to it’, i.e. stay away from the means that lead to fornication. Such as: looking, the seclusion with a man, the traveling of the woman by herself, her showing off her beauty. These are means that lead to falling into fornication. Allah has not allowed them, he has prohibited them.

If there is leniency in these means then fornication will take place. If there is leniency in these means then fornication will take place, because the desires are present. Desires are present between men and women. If they sat together and mixed then fornication is close. Shaytaan is present, if a man secluded himself with a woman, then shaytaan is the third one amongst them.

They say you have bad thoughts and that you are pessimists. We are not pessimists, this is the reality. This is the reality and if these means that Allah has prohibited are violated, then fornication will occur, no doubt.

Even the righteous man, the religious one, there is a danger upon him from the woman. Especially if she was beautiful and he secluded himself with her or traveled with her or she joined him at work. Or if she sat with him in the classroom, or in an exam, or in meetings. Or if she sat with him on the television, or on the radio, as his colleague, i.e. a presenter next to him, and she is beautified and he is a youth. Far is Allah from all imperfections. Do you bring petrol next to fire? Petrol is by itself and the fire is by itself. You bring her next to him! This is like that; no it is worse than petrol and fire.

Desires… we seek refuge with Allah, desires are strong. So for this reason Allah (the Exalted, Most High), has placed barriers that prevent falling in to fornication. If they are preserved, fornication is lessened or cut-off. If they are lost, then fornication will occur without a doubt. No matter what, even if they are religious or modest, the children of Adam are not saved from fornication except by the means that prevent it.