Meaning of Al Quran 24:26 - Good Men are for Good Women...

Allah ﷻ says in the Quran: “Corrupt women are for corrupt men, and corrupt men for corrupt women. Good women are for good men, and good men for good women. They are innocent of the calumnies people utter. There shall be forgiveness for them and a generous provision.”[1] What we understand from this verse is that it’s discussing the characteristics of men and women and how a man who’s pious and righteous will have trouble remaining with a woman who’s corrupt. Similarly a corrupt man cannot live with a woman who is pious and humble. Due to conflict of nature and different ways of life each holds on to, there is no progress in such a relationship, it fails to fulfill the purpose of marriage and the end result would be bad.

There are chances that a good man may marry a corrupt woman or vice versa due pressure from the family as in an arrange marriage (as in Eastern societies) or one fell in love with the other and rushed to marry without giving much thought. In such cases in the light of the above Verse it’s clear that these 2 opposite personalities cannot remain together for long and eventually result in separation. However, there are also chances in such scenarios that the corrupt man or woman may influence their righteous counterpart towards similar behavior which would then be a trial or test (fitnah) for them, as Allah ﷻ said: “Believers, even among your spouses and your children you have some enemies- beware of them…”[2] i.e. they may influence one to compromise Islamic morals & values for the sake of their loved one's pleasure. On the other hand there are also chances that the righteous may positively influence their corrupt spouse, but these are exceptional cases. The message being given in Al Quran 24:26 is in reference to general situations of male & female relationships and not exceptional. There is a hadith of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ where he has mentioned that individuals that share similar nature often get along very well and that happens due to their carrying similar characteristics: "… souls are like recruited soldiers, they get mixed up with those similar with them in qualities and oppose and drift away from those who do not share their qualities"[3] This is the same as the saying “birds of the same feather flock together.”

In Islam if a believer is not sure about the outcome of a major decision they intend to make in life, such as marriage, then they must do Istikhara prayer as taught by Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. By doing so one entrusts his or her affairs to Allah ﷻ and then He makes the best decision for them: “And put your trust in Allah, and Sufficient is Allah as a Wakil (Trustee, or Disposer of affairs).”[4]

References:
[1] Al Quran 24:26
[2] Al Quran 64:14
[3]  Riyad as-Saliheen - Book 1, Hadith 371 – Sunnah.com
[4] Al Quran 33:03