” Marriage in such books is not discussed from a spiritual dimension, as a seat of love, mercy and affection between spouses as described in the Qur’an. Nor will one find a detailed discussion on the Prophetic recommendations for marriage, or his ﷺ (peace be upon him) example of kindness and generosity towards his wives, which we have ample accounts of in books of hadith. In short, books of fiqh do not give a holistic understanding of the Islamic perspective of marriage, but focus solely on its legal dimension.”

the quote above is entirely a correct understanding of fiqh. i mean, using this example, even when it discusses affection between husband and wife, this is strictly in the context of what the Qur’an exhorts as a component of marriage, as a *criteria* of the marital relationship, the absence of which depending on degree may be legitimate or illegitimate grounds for divorce, etc., rather than exploring what this requirement means to the experience and psychology of the spouses or what is less or more preferred in terms of excellence of this quality vs others. fiqh is a field of knowledge ultimately about making action-related decisions. it’s basically a form of law.

therefore if the muslim psyche considers Islam to consist entirely of fiqh alone, as is common in the East, it can be readily seen what this results in, in terms of the collective mindset. law is extremely important for some basic things, but it is not necessarily the best thought process for solving *everything*. because sometimes even when a decision/action *can* be made according to right/wrong, the best outcome is gained not by making a decision according to this lens.

*sorry for hijack. i know this article is really mainly addressing the Western muslim context.

Perhaps because it is mentioned in the hadith and the hadith explain the Quran.

The Messenger of Allah, upon whom be peace, said to Fatimah bint Abu Habish, “Do not pray during your period. After it has ended, perform ghusl and pray.” (Related by al-Bukhari and Muslim.)

And Allah, of course, knows best!

NOW the thing which troubles me is that when quran is a “Complete” book and prayers is the “basic pillar of Islam”, how come abstaining from prayers and fast during mensturation is not mentioned anywhere in it? not to mention that we have been created solely for worshipping Allah.

I would apreciate your comments on this.