The Modern Muslim Family
The modern Muslim family embraces diversity, education, and empowerment. This family promotes love, compassion, and unity while balancing spiritual practices with the challenges of the modern world.
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Islam places a strong emphasis on family as a way to add to the diversity of humankind. The Quranic verses reaffirm that the joining of families signifies the beginning of a diverse and interconnected world.
The Quran also stresses how important it is for spouses to have close relationships because it promotes emotional ties, trust, and general wellbeing.
Islam acknowledges the family as the foundation of both diversity and unity in human society. So, this article is focused on how the Muslim family can be a part of that blessing.
The Muslim Family is Diverse
Islam is a global faith, which naturally means diversity. Diversity is our human way of life, as in all animals.
And diversity is good.
One Quranic verse that highlights the concept of diversity as a positive and beneficial aspect of creation is Surah Al-Hujurat (49), verse13:
O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you into nations and clans so that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of God is the most righteous of you. Indeed, God is Knowing and Acquainted
This verse promotes the positive perceptivity of diversity in human beings, in terms of our backgrounds, cultures, and clans, as a deliberate part of God's creation.
What is beautiful about the verse is that it encourages people to recognize and appreciate this diversity as a means of cultivating mutual understanding and learning from one another. But also most importantly accepting and tolerating each other way of life.
It also makes it clear that one's righteousness and piety are the factors that determine one's superiority in the sight of God, rather than one's ethnicity or social background.
What we learn from that verse, therefore, is that our families are diverse, and there is no place for discrimination in Islam.
There is Love in the Muslim Couple
Verse 2:187 of the Quran is very important to Muslim couples. The verse illustrates the permissibility of intimate relationships between spouses, describing them as garments for one another.
"Libas," the Arabic term used for "garment," implies a divine relationship of being a unit.
The verse also promotes a balanced and loving relationship between a couple. Intimacy, or romantic love, between couples, is essential for a marriage because it gives the couple an emotional connection, enhances trust, and promotes physical wellbeing.
Romantic love deepens understanding, strengthens bonds, and supports a healthy, fulfilling relationship.
Intimacy is, therefore, a unique avenue for communication and vulnerability, and this enriches the overall quality of the partnership.
A couple is the very step of creating a diverse world. Through couples, God creates diverse humanity per Sarah Al-Nisa (4), verse 1.
The Muslim Family is Part of the Unity
If you look at human beings, we are a group of related people. Sometimes, a small town will have several major families. Then, we have cities, countries, and continents.
The diverse humanity of our species is important to Islam, but it starts with one family joining another, and so on.
One Quranic verse that highlights the importance of unity is Surah Al-Imran (3), verse 103. Per Mustafa Khattab's translations, it says:
And hold firmly to the rope of God and do not be divided. Remember God's favor upon you when you were enemies, then He united your hearts, so you—by His grace—became brothers. And you were at the brink of a fiery pit, and He saved you from it. This is how God makes His revelations clear to you, so that you may be rightly guided.
This verse encourages us to unite and hold onto the "rope of God" collectively, which highlights the significance of maintaining unity among humanity.
Likewise, the verse reminds us of God's favor in bringing our hearts together when we were previously in conflict and division.
This unity applies to us today, especially after having suffered major world wars. I live in London, a city that was bombed during the wars. So, wherever you live, you can find that relationship, too.
Conclusion
Islam emphasizes the value of both unity and diversity within the Muslim family by acknowledging diversity as a purposeful aspect of God's creation.
This thinking elevates righteousness and understanding among people to fundamental principles.
When we look at the Quran, we see that an emphasis is placed on love and intimacy between spouses, strengthening emotional ties and overall wellbeing and adding to human diversity.
Islam also promotes unity among all people, overcoming previous divisions and pointing the way toward peaceful cohabitation despite differences.
Dr. Mamadou Bocoum is a Senegalese scholar based in the UK and offers unique solutions to contemporary Muslim challenges through blending tradition and Western perspectives. He teaches Theology at MECCA Institute.