Aslam

morsel of food to the mouth of his wife, he will get rewards therefor. A learned man mentioned about his actions regarding his pilgrimage, jihad and other good works to another learned man. The latter said : you are far away in comparison with the religious acts of Abdals. He asked him : What are those ? He said :
Those are lawful earnings and expense for family. The Prophet said : He whose prayer is good, who has got a big family, whose wealth is little and who abstains from defaming the Muslim will live in Paradise with me like these two fingers. He said : God loves the poor man having a big family and refraining from begging. There is in another Hadis that if the sins of the family members of a man become large, God tries them therewith that they may be expiations of his sins. A certain wise man said :
There is a certain sin of which there is no expiation except patience at the trouble of maintaining a family. The Prophet said :
If a man has got three daughters and he spends for their maintenance, God makes Paradise sure for him, except one whose sin in not pardonable.

HARMS OF MARRIAGE

There are three harms of marriage:

(1) Lawful earnings become difficult as a result of marriage.
There is in Hadis that if a man earns virtues to the height of mountain, he shall have to wait near the Balance and accounts will be taken from him of his wealth, of his expenditure, of his maintenance and other matters. The children will say to God on the Resurrection Day : O our Lord, take from him the account of his duties towards us, he did not teach us what we did not know and he gave us unlawful food to eat without our knowledge.
Take compensation from him for these. The Prophet said :
Nobody will meet God with a greater sin than with a sin of keeping his family members uneducated. Very few people will get release from this danger.

(2) Second harm of marriage is the lack of duty towards family members, to lose patience at their character and conduct and no to forbear the hardship inflicted by them. The Prophet said : Sufficient for the sin of a man is not to fulfill his duties of maintenance for which he is responsible. He also said : The fleeing of a man from his family is like that of a slave from his master. His prayer and fast are not accepted till he returns.' He

Vol-II The Book of Wordly Usages 29

who neglects to do his duty of maintenance is like a fleeing man even though he remains present. God says : Save yourselves and your family members from Hell. The sage Ibrahim-b- Adham raised objection to marry saying : I don't wish to let any woman do any fault and I have got no necessity for woman.