The question/claim: "Is marriage required/obligatory (fard) in Islam? Is a person who does not marry sinful?"
What does the Qur'an say?
The Qur'an presents marriage as a strong call directed at the community and family:
وَأَنكِحُوا۟ ٱلْأَيَـٰمَىٰ مِنكُمْ وَٱلصَّـٰلِحِينَ مِنْ عِبَادِكُمْ وَإِمَآئِكُمْ ۚ إِن يَكُونُوا۟ فُقَرَآءَ يُغْنِهِمُ ٱللَّهُ مِن فَضْلِهِۦ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ وَٰسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ
"Marry off the single among you and the righteous among your male and female servants who are fit (for marriage). If they are poor, Allah will enrich them out of His bounty. Allah is all-encompassing, all-knowing." (24:32)
(interpretation) The address here is not "you, marry," directed at the individual, but "marry them off / open the way for them," directed at the community/family; that is, it is a call to encourage and facilitate. Poverty is explicitly not presented as an obstacle.
The verse that immediately follows points to the path of chastity for those who lack the means:
وَلْيَسْتَعْفِفِ ٱلَّذِينَ لَا يَجِدُونَ نِكَاحًا حَتَّىٰ يُغْنِيَهُمُ ٱللَّهُ مِن فَضْلِهِۦ
"Let those who do not find the means to marry keep themselves chaste until Allah enriches them out of His bounty." (24:33)
(interpretation) Here, being unmarried when one lacks the means is mentioned not as a crime or sin, but as a legitimate state in which chastity is to be preserved.
The Qur'an exalts the worth of marriage by counting it among the "signs" of God:
وَمِنْ ءَايَـٰتِهِۦٓ أَنْ خَلَقَ لَكُم مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ أَزْوَٰجًا لِّتَسْكُنُوٓا۟ إِلَيْهَا وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَكُم مَّوَدَّةً وَرَحْمَةً ۚ إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ لَـَٔايَـٰتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ
"And among His signs is that He created for you mates from among yourselves so that you may find tranquility in them, and He placed between you love and mercy. Surely in this are lessons for a people who reflect." (30:21)
It also mentions marriage as an object of longing and prayer:
وَٱلَّذِينَ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا هَبْ لَنَا مِنْ أَزْوَٰجِنَا وَذُرِّيَّـٰتِنَا قُرَّةَ أَعْيُنٍ وَٱجْعَلْنَا لِلْمُتَّقِينَ إِمَامًا
"And those who say: 'Our Lord! Grant us the comfort of our eyes from our spouses and our offspring, and make us leaders for the conscientious (the God-fearing).'" (25:74)
(interpretation) Taken together, these verses show that the Qur'an strongly encourages marriage and praises it as a valuable institution of sukun (tranquility), mawadda (love) and rahma (mercy). Yet no ruling-statement appears in the text saying "every individual must marry" or "whoever does not marry is sinful."
Differing readings
The Qur'an does not assign a single technical label to the religious "degree" of an individual's marriage; that belongs to the domain of juristic reasoning (ijtihad):
- The majority juristic reading: Marriage is, as a rule, recommended (mustahabb/sunna) — encouraged and meritorious. When certain conditions arise — for example, when a person seriously fears falling into unlawful relations — it is said that it may rise to the level of obligatory (wajib) for some individuals.
- The strong-encouragement reading: Some views treat the general call in the verses (especially 24:32) as a very strong encouragement; even so, they do not read it as an exceptionless obligation imposed on every individual.
(interpretation) These gradations (mustahabb / sunna / wajib) are juristic interpretation, not a Qur'anic text. There is no explicit Qur'anic verse stating "obligatory for every individual." Likewise, monasticism or principled mandatory celibacy is not a path the Qur'an praises; that is a separate topic.
The honest boundary
- Certain in the text: Marriage is an encouraged, praised and valuable institution; it is a path of tranquility, love-and-mercy, and chastity (30:21, 24:32). When the means are lacking, preserving chastity is commanded (24:33).
- Contested in interpretation: The religious "degree" (fard / wajib / mustahabb) that marriage carries for each particular individual. This is a juristic assessment; it differs among schools and scholars and does not rest on a direct Qur'anic text.
Conclusion: The Qur'an very strongly encourages and exalts marriage; but the text does not impose an absolute "requirement/obligation" on every individual. For one who lacks the means, chastity (remaining honorable) is explicitly commanded (24:33). Therefore the judgment "whoever does not marry is sinful" does not follow from the Qur'anic text; at most it remains within the bounds of a juristic interpretation.
Source: Verse text and rendering — the Qur'an (translation: Mehmet Okuyan). Statements labeled "(interpretation)" are inferences, not the verse text; juristic degrees are conveyed descriptively.