Islam is a complete code of life and it permits love marriage but, what kind of love it should be is the question and how one should express this love?
Jareer ibn ‘Abdullah [may Allah be pleased with him] said: “I asked the Messenger of Allah [P.B.U.H] about an accidental glance at a woman.
He commanded me to turn my gaze away.” [Al-Tirmidhi]
The Messenger of Allah [P.B.U.H] said:
“O Ali [his cousin], do not follow a glance with another, for you will be forgiven for the first, but not for the second.” [Al-Tirmidhi: 2701]
Islam likes women to be in veil and to be in her home, except in case of necessity. Islam does not permit even a pilgrimage journey, with non-mehram. Liking someone is permissible in Islam but there is some criteria for this likeness. Some basic aspects include religiousness, good nature, compatibility, decent family, and physical and mental health.
A question arises in one’s mind that if Islam prohibits all the means by which one can select and like one’s spouse then how can one select a spouse having above stated qualities?
Answer is simple Islam allows love marriage but it does not promote it. Love is not an essential element to the marriage. And the above stated qualities can be easily judged by any of your family member, not essentially by yourself.
It is an illusion that a man and a woman must ‘know’ each other before they decide to marry, so that they may then be able to live happily. The marriages which take place without such pre-marital contacts would not have been known to last happily.