Love grows with time in Arranged Marriages and decreases over time in "love marriages"

Studies show Love grows with time in Arranged Marriages and decreases over time in "love marriages":

How Love Emerges in Arranged Marriages: Two Cross-cultural Studies

Robert Epstein, Mayuri Pandit and Mansi Thakar

Journal of Comparative Family Studies

Vol. 44, No. 3 (MAY-JUNE 2013), pp. 341-360 (20 pages)

Published By: University of Toronto Press

Content source

https://www.jstor.org/stable/23644606

Abstract

Two studies (N = 52) examined how love emerged in arranged marriages involving participants from 12 different countries of origin and 6 different religions. The first study (n = 30), mainly qualitative in design, found that self-reported love grew from a mean of 3.9 to 8.5 on a 10-point scale. A number of factors were identified that appeared to contribute to the growth of love, the most important of which was commitment. In the second study (n = 22), mainly quantitative in design, 36 factors that might contribute to the growth of love were assessed, with participants indicating on a 13-point scale (from -6 to +6) whether each factor made their love grow weaker or stronger. Love grew from a mean of 5.1 to 9.2, and sacrifice and commitment emerged as the most powerful factors in strengthening love. These and other factors appear to work because they make people feel vulnerable in each other's presence, a hypothesis that is consistent with a growing body of laboratory research. The fact that love can grow in some arranged marriages—and that this process can apparently be analyzed and understood scientifically—raises the possibility that practices that are used to strengthen love in arranged marriages could be introduced into autonomous marriages in Western cultures, where love normally weakens over time.

Cascades of Apostasy (Routes to Irtidad)

Cascades of Apostasy (Routes to Irtidad):

1. The 'Desires' cascade

Following the Shahawat (Desires) corrupts the ‘fitrat e saleema’ of a person which will gradually alter his worldview which leads to developing Shubuhaat (Destructive Doubts) about the Religion which, if not cured, lead to weakening and finally loss of imaan.

Following the Shahawat (Desires and sins) -> corrupts the ‘fitrat e saleema’ of a person -> alter his worldview ->  develop Shubuhaat (Destructive Doubts) about the Religion -> weakening and loss of imaan.

2. The 'Ideological' cascades

A Muslim’s worldview can be directly corrupted by education system, media exposure, effect of dominant Kaafir ideologies in society, wrong sohbat (online or offline), personal trauma, etc., leading to shubuhaat about religion.

Solutions involve a combination of both Spiritual and Intellectual approaches.

-Protecting one’s Fitrat e saleema by strengthening one’s spirituality through Tawbah, Taqwa and Zuhd to prevent the Desires cascade.

-Strengthening one’s Islamic worldview by acquiring proper Deeni Ilm (with a focus on Aqeeda, Usool of Deen and ideological undertanding) and safeguarding oneself from all gateways of ideological cascades. It will require a thorough intellectual dismantling of all unIslamic ideologies and worldviews, redesigning the education system (and if that’s not possible then) detoxifying it’s effects, avoiding unnecessary media and internet exposure, adopting Sohbat of good Ulama and knowledgable, pious Muslims, etc.

Further reading:
NO DOUBT : 10 Effective Strategies On How to Deal With Your & Other People's Doubts by Fahad Tasleem https://pressbooks.pub/nodoubt/