Mawadda
Definition
Mawadda is the word the Quran uses in its description of marriage as one of Allah's signs: 'He created for you spouses that you may find tranquility in them, and He placed between you mawadda and rahma.' Mawadda is the warm, active affection that comes from the living of life together — not the initial infatuation but the deep liking that grows from shared history, mutual care, and conscious effort. Al-Ghazali argues that mawadda must be cultivated, not simply expected to persist: the spouses who invest in kind speech, physical affection, generosity, and forgiveness are the ones who find it flourishing.
As understood in the classical tradition of Imam al-Ghazali and the scholars of his school.
Appears in
2 books in the library
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