When Must We Marry?

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solving the youth problems will bear any fruit."

I said: "Do you say that, even after taking the social facts and present difficulties on the way to marriage into consideration?" He reflected. "Yes, if all these expenditures and expenses which are incurred upon subsidiary matters, all these efforts which are concentrated upon the difficulties of the youth, all the expenses relating to missionary and cultural activities and the budget which is allocated to confronting a cultural attack - if all these sources are spent upon the marriage of the youth, and this way is opened up for them, only then will the cultural attack and aggression no longer have any negative and adverse effect. Let any amount of planning be made and materialised in regard of meeting and confronting the cultural attack; all that will remain ineffective whilst the problem of youth marriage at the nartural age remains unsolved. The real and actual combat against cultural aggression is that the youth marry at the time of their sexual and mental puberty."

DISCUSSION WITH A FRIEND IN THIS CONNECTION

During the compilation of this book I had a discussion with a good, knowledgeable and informed friend, which I hereby persent to you.

The friend said: "Do you not think the age you have described fit for marriage is an early one?"

I said: "Why early? Do the sexual instinct and natural demand for a spouse and the mental maturity not reach the required standard fo completion at this age? Does a healthy person, provided he does not care for the artificial difficulies and obstacles on the way to marriage, not require a spouse?"

He said? "Why not, he does require it, but the sexual instinct and urge for a spouse alone should not be taken into view. Instead, we must also view the other problems which are persent on the scene."

I replied: "We have considered those problems and difficulties in chapter four."

He said: "But one thing which in my view had not been taken into consideration in chapter 4 and which pertains to chapter 2 is that the youth the age group you have discussed, do not have the readiness, preparedness and vigour or energy to manage life. How could you expect a 19 year old boy and a 16 year old girl to run a family? Normally, they need the management and guardianship of their parents."

I replied: "Allah who has created man is all-wise and has palced everything in the right position. The same Allah who has placed sexual instinct and demand for a spouse in man's nature and ordained him to marry and has so very much stressed on the haste and promptness in marriage has definitely placed the energy and capability of running his lifr in him also. If there is a flaw or shortcoming, it is in our training. It is our wrong and inaccurate training which blocks and hindersthe way of development and advancement of that maturity and the outflow of that energy and ability. The potential energy of running and organising a life is presient in us, and its activation too is at the time of puberty. But at times, we do not provide the ground for its progress, and instead, hinder the blooming and development of it by wrong and inappropriate training.