Ruling on traveling to lands of disbelief and returning after committing a forbidden act
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Your Eminence, Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen, peace be upon you and Allah’s mercy and blessings,First: We testify before Allah (Mighty and Majestic) that we love you for the sake of Allah,And my question is: What is your opinion regarding one who travels to lands of disbelief for any purpose and commits a forbidden act, such as unlawful sexual intercourse or sodomy, and contracted certain diseases from committing this indecency, but did not know of it until medical tests were conducted? Is the fixed punishment to be carried out against him? And if he has harmed another, such as his wife, does his wife have the right to file a complaint and claim the right to compensation for the harm she suffered from him?
I say: Peace be upon you and Allah’s mercy and blessings, and may Allah love you for the sake of which you loved us. I inform you that there is no need to offer the greeting when asking a question, because the Companions used to ask questions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) without greeting him.
As for what you mentioned regarding traveling to lands of disbelief, I say: Traveling to lands of disbelief is forbidden unless there is a pressing need or dire necessity: a pressing need is like trade, where one goes to buy goods from them to trade with, and dire necessity is like illness or crafts that do not exist in the lands of Muslims, or something similar. However, this is on the condition that the person has knowledge with which to repel doubts, and that he has religion that prevents him from forbidden acts. As for if the person knows from himself that he does not have knowledge with which to repel doubts, and if he goes to lands of disbelief they will confuse his religion and lead him into bewilderment, then it is not permissible for him to go, no matter what, even if it is the most extreme dire necessity. Likewise, if one does not have religion that protects him, such that he knows from himself that he is weak in religion, and if he goes there he will be deceived by the adornment of the worldly life they have, we say: It is also not permissible for you to go, because preserving religion is obligatory.If the three conditions are met: Knowledge, religion, and pressing need or dire necessity, then there is no harm.
As for the diseases he carries, the obligatory thing, if these diseases are contagious, is that the one in authority must detain him in a place so that his contagion does not spread.For this reason, the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) said: The obligatory thing is to detain those with leprosy—Meaning: those who have been afflicted with leprosy—and leprosy is a known contagious disease. The obligatory thing is that they be placed in one place and prevented from free mixing with people. And if this person who brought the contagious disease is prevented from contact with people, then his contact with his wife is even more so.Meaning: The wife has the right to demand separation, and she has the right to this. As for the disease that afflicted her, if she knew that her husband was afflicted with it, she has no right, because she is the one who risked herself. And if she did not know, it is a matter for consideration and is referred to the court.
I say: Peace be upon you and Allah’s mercy and blessings, and may Allah love you for the sake of which you loved us. I inform you that there is no need to offer the greeting when asking a question, because the Companions used to ask questions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) without greeting him.
As for what you mentioned regarding traveling to lands of disbelief, I say: Traveling to lands of disbelief is forbidden unless there is a pressing need or dire necessity: a pressing need is like trade, where one goes to buy goods from them to trade with, and dire necessity is like illness or crafts that do not exist in the lands of Muslims, or something similar. However, this is on the condition that the person has knowledge with which to repel doubts, and that he has religion that prevents him from forbidden acts. As for if the person knows from himself that he does not have knowledge with which to repel doubts, and if he goes to lands of disbelief they will confuse his religion and lead him into bewilderment, then it is not permissible for him to go, no matter what, even if it is the most extreme dire necessity. Likewise, if one does not have religion that protects him, such that he knows from himself that he is weak in religion, and if he goes there he will be deceived by the adornment of the worldly life they have, we say: It is also not permissible for you to go, because preserving religion is obligatory.If the three conditions are met: Knowledge, religion, and pressing need or dire necessity, then there is no harm.
As for the diseases he carries, the obligatory thing, if these diseases are contagious, is that the one in authority must detain him in a place so that his contagion does not spread.For this reason, the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) said: The obligatory thing is to detain those with leprosy—Meaning: those who have been afflicted with leprosy—and leprosy is a known contagious disease. The obligatory thing is that they be placed in one place and prevented from free mixing with people. And if this person who brought the contagious disease is prevented from contact with people, then his contact with his wife is even more so.Meaning: The wife has the right to demand separation, and she has the right to this. As for the disease that afflicted her, if she knew that her husband was afflicted with it, she has no right, because she is the one who risked herself. And if she did not know, it is a matter for consideration and is referred to the court.