Minhaj Sisters UK has organized a 4-week long course titled ‘Al-Nasiha – Strengthening the family unit’ with Dr Ghazala Hassan Qadri to start the year. The second session commenced with an introduction by Sister Ifrah Khalid (Vice President of Minhaj Sisters UK). This was followed by Dr Ghazala addressing the second session on how to create love in a marital relationship.

Love encompasses a wide array of feelings and emotions and it means to care for the needs of each other, to be aware of each other’s wishes and desires, which in turn should create an intimate connection and a bond between a couple. Due to many reasons, couples often neglect their own marital relationship. The importance is not given to the health of that relationship or placing value upon it.

Dr Ghazala emphasized that to sustain or create a loving and beautiful relationship, we must take into account each other’s personal feelings and are in tune with one another’s emotions, wishes and desires. It is extremely important to understand other’s dreams and aspirations and show support.

Dr Ghazala used aspects from the Sirah on how to create a loving relationship. Firstly, it is important to understand your spouse, what are they like? What are their habits? What are their likes and dislikes? Once you are engaged in this, you will start to observe them properly and start to engage with them. When you actively engage with and study each other, you are less likely to neglect and ignore one another as much. The beloved Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was so in tune with his (pbuh) beloved wife, Sayyida Aisha (RA) that he (pbuh) always knew how she was feeling. No matter how busy we may be in our lives, we should always take time out to understand one another.

Secondly, we must appreciate and be thankful to one another through words or actions. We often appreciate our friends, our colleagues, or extended family who assist us in any way. But we neglect our life partner and never say any words of appreciation.

Dr Ghazala highlighted that it is extremely important to make thankfulness part of your life for everyone, but it is especially important for your spouse. If this is made into a daily habit, then the day will always be finished on a high and positive note.