Islam
“In Islam,” says Imam Yahya Hendi, director, Muslim Life and Chaplaincy at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., “marriage is soul-matism - a partnership of two souls, two hearts, two minds who intimately enjoy each other’s company.” Intimacy and sexual pleasure are emphasized far more in Islam than in many other religions. “How I care for your sexual pleasure, as how you care for me,” he said, “is very important in a relationship.”
The religion encourages followers to wed. Both men and women are called zawaj, Arabic for marriage. It means a pair, compatible yet still not the same. In much the same way, Islam believes there is a difference between essential male nature and essential female nature. Marriage needs the balance of what each can contribute to the partnership (though religious law mandates men to financially support the family).