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Fatwa CenterIslam protects the wife's right in enjoyment and satisfaction
Question
It is recommended in Islam for men to marry virgin women. "Marry virgins for they have sweeter mouths, more productive wombs and are more pleased with less”. But for women it is recommended not to refuse a man because of their age and marital status (if he is already married) women even have got no right object if her husbands want to have more wives. Why man’s enjoyment, satisfaction and pleasure has been given more preference to the woman’s?
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 is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.
First of all, you should know that being content with the religious rulings and surrendering oneself to them is the only way to salvation, and listening to the misconceptions which the devil and his (human and jinn) helpers whisper to a person are means for destruction. If the heart accepts these misconceptions, it will be led to destruction; so one should be very careful. Allaah Says (what means): {And certainly, the devils do inspire their friends (from mankind) to dispute with you, and if you obey them (by making a dead animal legal by eating it), then you would indeed be polytheists because they -devils and their friends- made lawful to you to eat that which Allaah has made unlawful to eat and you obeyed them by considering it lawful to eat, and by doing so you worshipped them, and to worship others besides Allaah is polytheism).} [Quran 6:121].
Saying that in Islam, the right of the man in enjoying his wife is put in priority over the right of the wife in doing so is wrong in principle, and it has no basis. Indeed, Islam protected the right of the wife in marital relations and other fields, and there are many other well-known examples but this is not the place to mention them. It is enough to mention the saying of Allaah (which means): {And live with them in kindness.}[Quran 4:19]. Allaah also Says (what means): {…And they (women) have rights (over their husbands as regards living expenses, etc.) similar (to those of their husbands) over them (as regards obedience and respect, etc.) to what is reasonable.}[Quran 2:228].
Indeed, Islam urges men to marry virgin women, but this is in order to achieve greater benefits than just temporarily, enjoinment such as increasing the progeny, the continuity of marital relationship between the husband and wife and so forth. On the other hand, a woman is not obliged to accept to marry someone who is much older or much younger than her, or someone whose social status is different than hers, and so on. However, when the scholars 
say that it is desirable for the woman not to refuse a man because of these differences, this is in order to achieve religious benefits. For instance, a woman is generally the one who is asked for marriage by a man whereas she is shy to ask someone to marry her, and if she refuses those who propose to her for marriage, it might be that (after a while) no one else would ask her for marriage, and so, she will remain without being married, and live all her life without a husband. In this case spinsterhood would spread and this, undoubtedly, leads to many temptations and corruption.
For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 89032.
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