It is narrated from Imam Ridha (PBUH) that Imam al-Sadiq (PBUH), in answer to a woman who wanted not to marry in order to gain a great virtue, said: Do not do that, because if it was a virtue, Fatimah (PBUH) would be more competent than you, and, surely, there is none (of women) who can excel her in any virtue.

Albatrosses are one of the longest-lived families of bird, with many reaching the ripe old age of 50 and over. The world’s oldest known albatross is Wisdom, a Laysan albatross. Wisdom is one of millions of albatrosses that return every year to the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, near Hawaii, to nest. She was first tagged there by scientists in 1956, as she prepared to lay her first egg.

Imam al-Sadiq (PBUH) said: He who abandons marriage for the fear of the expenses imposed on him, mistrusts Allah, Almighty and Glorious.

They discovered that the birds use a very low frequency of sound called infrasound to navigate. The sound, which is typically inaudible to humans, is produced when waves crash together or against coastlines.

The study found that, when making decisions about where to go next, the albatrosses invariably chose the direction with the loudest infrasound. The reason could be that high waves bring fish to the surface, and so infrasound could inform birds of good foraging patches.

Imam al-Sadiq (PBUH) said: This (sin) is enough for a man that he leaves those dependent on him for sustenance without regard.

Wandering albatrosses travel more than 10,000km in a single foraging trip. So how do they find their way back to the same nest site on the same remote island year after year? One study by researchers at the University of Liverpool provides a clue. The scientists used GPS trackers to determine the flight paths of 89 wandering albatrosses breeding in the Crozet Islands archipelago, located in the Southern Ocean.

Some species of albatrosses, for example, are so reliant on the wind that they struggle to take off when conditions are calm. However, one study also found that there is an upper limit to the beneficial effects of the wind. Researchers attached small tracking devices to albatrosses on South Georgia island in the southwest Atlantic Ocean. They found that during extremely strong storm winds, two species of albatrosses struggled to eat as the conditions made finding food difficult or dangerous.

Imam al-Sadiq (PBUH) said: He who tolerates the task of earning money for (the comfort of) his wife, is like the one who fights in the way of Allah.

Albatrosses use their formidable wingspans to catch and ride air currents, allowing them to soar just above the ocean surface without expending undue energy on flapping. Researchers have modelled their flight and found that they stay aloft by alternately soaring and diving between currents of air moving at different speeds – a flight pattern known as dynamic soaring.

Once their young have fledged the nest and flown away, parent albatrosses often take a year off breeding, and most species migrate long distances. Some, like wandering and grey-headed albatrosses, circumnavigate the entire Southern Ocean. Birds can travel 1,000km in a single day, with one grey-headed albatross recorded as travelling the whole way around Antarctica in just 46 days.

The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) said: Any man who is patient with the wife who is bad tempered, and seeks that patience from Allah, He bestows him the reward given to the thankful ones.

The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) said: He who is regardless of those whom he must feed, is cursed and again very much cursed.