Will Your Marriage Help the Ummah? | Dr. Omar Suleiman
By Sh. Omar Suleiman | 2026-05-22T12:49:59.486891+00:00 | Topic: Relationships
Summary
Choosing a Spouse Wisely
- Many people seek the wrong qualities in a spouse.
- They try to fix things after marriage.
- The Prophet ﷺ highlighted wealth, beauty, status, and deen as criteria.
- Prioritize religion (deen) above all else.
Prophet's ﷺ Guidance on Marriage
- The Prophet ﷺ advised marrying someone with good religion and character.
- Failure to do so leads to corruption on Earth.
- Marriage is part of a larger story of the Ummah.
- Righteousness should be the primary criterion.
Righteousness as the First Criterion
- Righteousness should be the very first criterion.
- Not just somewhere on the list.
- Shift your calculus if it's not.
- Consider the impact on the Ummah.
How many people look for all of the wrong things in a spouse, and then try to make it all right after they get past the honeymoon phase? And so when the Prophet ﷺ says that a person can be married for multiple things, wealth, beauty, status, or deen. Choose the religion, may your hands be covered in dust. Someone comes to you and has good religion and good character, marry that person.
If you don't do so, then the Prophet ﷺ says that the earth will be filled with corruption. You're like, what is the earth being filled with corruption have to do with the person I want to get married to? Because you're part of a greater story. You're part of the story of the Ummah of Muhammad ﷺ. So the standards, the calculus that you have before you even get married should be righteousness.
Not righteousness somewhere on the criteria. Righteousness being the very first criterion. And if it's not, then you need to shift your calculus.