Dr Fuad-deen Olabisi Kekere-ekun wrote:THE IMPORTANCE OF KEEPING THE FEMALE VIRGINITY BEFORE MARRIAGE IN ISLAM.Virginity is a very strong sign of chastity in Islam. It cannot be underestimated today no matter what reasons we choose to profer here or else where. The Prophet s.a.w. recommended marrying virgins. That does not mean only those with intact hymens but those who have never attempted premarital sex till the time of nikah. Meeting the hymen intact or seeing blood stains on the first night is not as important as knowing that no man has touched the lady before gettingmarried for the first time. The nikah of those married as virgins are not the same with those married after they have lost their virginity through premarital sex because theirfirst partner remains on their mind. Women should strive to keep their virginity till their first night in marriage for their first everlegal husband. That is the joy of it all and that is the culture that Islam treasures a lotand also a practice treasured in so many tribes and cultures of the world. Virginity may not tell you the state of the heart but itdefinitely sends a strong message ofmorality, fidelity, chastity, loyalty and good home training and upbringing. No right thinking man will like to wish away such rareand invaluable precious qualities in a woman.We are not marrying from Hollywood,Bollywood or Nollywood. We are marrying from a pool of well trained muslim sisters from good Islamic homes. That is why Allah says that the fornicator should marry the fornicatress, and the pure and chaste men should also marry the pure and chaste women. Besides it does not matter or makemuch difference if a lady has been in jahiliyah or not prior to the time of practising Islam well and getting married. Jahiliyah isdifferent from jahiliyah. There is jahiliyahwith good home training and moralupbringing and there is jahiliyah with lack ofhome training and reckless and immoralupbringing. The fact that a lady grew up without Islam doesn't mean that she must have grown up loose without morality andchastity. Jahiliyah is not synonymous with reckless and immoral living and engaging in premarital sex and affairs. Most of our pious predecessors including the Prophet s.a.w. married before Islam during jahiliyah(ignorant) period and they married chaste women. In most cultures in the world, both Muslim and non-muslim, virginity and chastity are two inseparable twin qualities of good marriable spinsters. We are not saying that only virginsare chaste but being virgins at the time of nikah is a sure proof of chastity. Of course there are exceptions but they must remain exceptions because the accepted and recommended norm in Islam is to marry muhsanat which means chaste women eitherfrom the never married who are expected to be virgins and previously married chastewomen from among the widows anddivorcees who must have been married asvirgins the first time they got married.However virgins are given priority over the previously married chaste women in theSunnah of the Prophet (s.a.w.). Exceptionsare chaste women who lost their virginitythrough rape or exercises when small butthey must feel the loss and wish they didn'tlose it physically though they remain chastebecause virginity is a virtue and remains avirtue in today's immoral world though lackof hayah i.e. Islamic shyness and modesty in women is making many to disregard thesanctity and sacredness attached to virginity.Those who lost their virginity beforedeveloping islamic consciousness but later sincerely repented are among the chaste women but they are not equal with those who eventually married as virgins. That is why the Prophet s.a.w. said that paradise is guaranteed for any muslim man who succeeds in raising three, two or even onedaughter with sound morals till he marriesthem out. This is their reward for marryingout their daughters as virgins. And he (s.a.w.) also said that the cuckold men who allow their wives and daughters to go out ofthe home indiscriminately and live immoral lives will not smell the aroma of paradise and will not enter it. Our young muslim girlsmust be taught to value, cherish andjealously guard their virginity till they get married. They must be made to know andunderstand the implication of carelessly losing their virginity and the importance ofkeeping it intact till they reach maturity age of getting married so that they are not discriminated against when looking formarriage partners in the future. Parents too must learn to protect their young girls frompossible sexual abuse and rape incidences by never leaving them alone with strange menand grown male relatives who may abuse them. They must also be protected from useless sporting events and exercises that canlead to the loss of virginity. These measures are strictly observed in many non-muslimtribes and cultures of the world where they value and cherish virginity. Why not in themuslim community where it is a sunnah to marry virgins' Keeping virginity till marriagefrom time immemorial has been the best proof of chastity and the best way to removeall forms of suspicions of immorality andengagement in promiscuity. There is no way of establishing or differentiating the way oflosing a virginity once it is lost. No one can say the difference between a ''one-timeoffender'' , a ''chronic offender'' and a completely innocent lady who has lost her virginity so it is better kept intact till thenikah day. We as Muslims and as goodcultured and morally upright people of the world must continue to praise, glorify andrecommend it as the Prophet s.a.w. did and taught us to do as a valid and strong sunnahthat has come to stay. May Allah keep us guided. Amin.
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