Keys to a Successful Marital Life

Keys to a Successful Marital Life is a concise yet profound guide for Muslim spouses, offering practical, faith-rooted counsel to build a marriage grounded in Islamic ethics and lasting love. In approximately 166 pages, Nihad Sayyid Idris 'Ali draws on Quranic principles, prophetic teachings, and classical wisdom to explain what true marital love and companionship mean in Islam — and how they differ from fleeting worldly attractions. 

The book begins by emphasizing that the meaning of love and mercy between spouses— as ordained by Allah — precedes modern psychological theories. It explores fundamental questions: What is the real love spouses should aim for? How can affection be sustained over the years rather than fade with time or hardship? What are the rights and duties of each spouse, and how can mutual respect, mercy, and understanding be nurtured in daily life? 

Rather than leaving guidance abstract or idealistic, the author collates a variety of Islamic sources and classical wisdom, giving readers actionable advice for everyday marital life. This includes guidance on maintaining emotional closeness, fulfilling rights — spiritual, emotional, and practical — and understanding the true purpose of marriage from an Islamic worldview: a union built on mercy (rahmah), tranquility (sakinah), mutual respect, and shared commitment to faith.

Ideal for newlyweds, engaged couples, and long-married partners alike, this book serves as a beneficial companion — whether you are preparing for marriage, seeking to strengthen your existing bond, or aiming to align your household with the principles of the Qur’an and Sunnah. Through its guidance, readers can build a marriage that pleases Allah, fosters tranquility, and remains resilient across life’s challenges.

What Allah, the Most Exalted and the Most Mighty, said concerning the meanings of love between spouses precedes what psychologists say today. The psychologists emphasize the necessity of love in human life and the need for every human being to love and feel the love of someone else. They assert that this human need is the foundation of the rest of the mind for an individual.

But how can one sustain affection throughout the years of marriage? What makes some people happy in their marriages while others find marriage miserable? What is the real love that should prevail in every marital relationship? And what are the rights of the spouses to each other?

By Allah's permission, this book provides comprehensive answers to these questions, compiled from a number of sources in order to quench the thirst of the thirsty about the issue.