it is obligatory for anyone who fears that he would succumb to fornication were he to remain unmarried, for marriage is the lawful avenue for safeguarding oneself from the forbidden. In this regard Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “If a person needs to marry and fears hardship by leaving it, he should give marriage priority over the obligatory ḥajj.” Others have said: “For him, marriage is preferable to a supererogatory ḥajj, voluntary prayer, and voluntary fasting.”

They also stated that, in this situation, no distinction is made between one who is able to support a wife and one who is not.

Shaykh Taqī al-Dīn remarked: “The apparent sense of the words of Aḥmad and most other scholars is that financial capability is not a prerequisite, because Allah has promised enrichment, saying, ‘If they are poor, Allah will enrich them out of His bounty’ (Q 24:32). The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—would at times begin the morning with nothing in his possession and reach evening with nothing, yet he married off a man who could not even afford an iron ring.”

Marriage is recommended when desire exists yet there is no fear of falling into fornication, for it brings numerous benefits to both men and women.

Marriage is permissible when no desire or inclination is present—such as for an impotent man or an elderly person—though in this case it may be disliked, because it deprives the woman of the legitimate purpose of marriage, namely, the safeguarding of her chastity, and thus harms her.