Question: What if an Islamic sister thinks, ‘I will become a sinner if I fail to fulfil the marital duties of my husband’, and therefore, she decides to remain unmarried due to fear of Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ, is this permissible for her?
Answer: The Islamic verdict about whether it is better for a woman to marry or not varies, depending on the situation. Marriage can either be Farḍ or Wājib or Makrūĥ or Ḥarām.
(For details please see Fatāwā Razawiyyaĥ referenced version, volume 12, page 291 and also the 112-page book Baĥār-e-Sharī’at, part 7, pages 4 to 5 published by Maktaba-tul-Madīnaĥ, the publishing department of Dawat-e-Islami.)
If there is no Shar’ī prohibition for an Islamic sister on getting married and she only fears that she may not be able to fulfil her husband’s duties then instead of deciding to refrain from marrying she should gather up the courage to fulfil those duties. In order to do this, she ought to acquire knowledge about a husband’s duties. To learn these rules is Farḍ (obligatory) for every woman who intends to marry. Not only knowledge about a husband’s duties, in fact, the definitions of patience and gratitude, their details, and relevant important information should be acquired. Studying Iḥyā-ul-‘Ulūm etc. is extremely beneficial for the acquisition of this knowledge. These days, it is very difficult for a woman to survive unmarried. This could cause domestic problems and also poses a risk of her committing many sins. Therefore, one should overcome weaknesses rather than totally abandon a good deed.
However, if a woman fears that she will fail to fulfil her duties, then she will not be a sinner if she decides not to marry; unless she finds