Abu Layla asks Shaykh Al-Albani to advise his sister’s daughter.

Abu Layla : Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings.

The Shaykh : Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings.
Abu Layla : May Allah give you a good morning, our Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Welcome, good morning.
Abu Layla : Please let us know how your health is?

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, I am well.
Abu Layla : May Allah bless your health, our Shaykh.

The Shaykh : How are you?
Abu Layla : By Allah, all of us, young and old, send you our greetings.

The Shaykh : From all of you.
Abu Layla : And specifically, Umm Malik... May Allah honor you, our Shaykh. We know now that it is not the time for questions, but we have a problem here, a new one that has come up.

The Shaykh : May it be well.

The questioner : One of the suitors came and asked for my sister’s daughter’s hand.

The Shaykh : They are asking?

The questioner : For my sister’s daughter’s hand. I want to marry my sister’s daughter.

The Shaykh : Yes, your sister?

The Shaykh : Yes. Yes.

The questioner : So the man started saying that I have buses and I have cars, and he spoke in a way that entices the common people. So the important thing is that he sat with them, and he made more than one visit over a week, coming to the house without informing me. And it is the custom of my sister and her husband to inform me about everything. Suddenly, they said, "Since the matter is almost settled, we need your approval for this young man." They said, "Then it is necessary for him to meet Abu Ahmad." The young man said, "I mean, I am from a certain area, and I mean, there is no objection to not mentioning it." So the important thing, our Shaykh, is that after the man sat with me, I raised several questions with him, as you have taught us, may Allah preserve you.

The Shaykh : May Allah preserve you.

The questioner : It turned out that he was married and had hidden this from my sister’s husband and my sister.

The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar.

The Shaykh : That is first. Second, I asked him where he prays. Of course, he is clean-shaven and wears pants, so I asked him where he prays. He said, "I pray in all the mosques." I said, "Okay, who knows you among some of the righteous people, the people of religion?" He said, "I don’t know anyone." I said to him, "That is not possible. When will you bring me proof that you know someone so that I can ask about you? If Allah wills, the man will come to us." Of course, I caught him in several things, and he admitted to them. My sister’s husband was surprised by these things.

The Shaykh : May Allah guide them, this group.
Abu Layla : And we are not done yet, our Shaykh. We have not reached the end yet.

The Shaykh: Also
Abu Layla : Yes, by Allah, our Shaykh. I said to him, "Do you have children from the wife?" He said, "No." Then it was mentioned that this wife has many bad things, meaning it is not in her apparent character or her behavior toward her mother. He is of this character, our Shaykh. But so that we do not go too far, God forbid, by accusing her of anything, the important thing is that it was finally revealed that the man has a daughter from the wife, and he is lying.

The Shaykh : Allahu Akbar.
Abu Layla : So now, our Shaykh, your sister’s daughter is listening to you. And of course, after I asked her permission, she came to take my opinion. I said, "I hope, from the perspective of, although I advised her with advice, I said, 'Let us seek guidance from the words of our Shaykh, our teacher, and our father.'"

The Shaykh : May Allah bless you all.
Abu Layla : May Allah honor you, our Shaykh. After it became clear to me first that he does not pray, that he does not pray, and that he lies, and our Shaykh, perhaps there are other things we do not know, and no one knows them except Allah the Mighty and Majestic,

The Shaykh : Glorified and Exalted is He.
Abu Layla : So what is your opinion, our Shaykh, about a man like this? And one more thing, our Shaykh. With our advice, we always tell these sisters not to let any husband come, because this is an opportunity, unless he is a man of religion. This is the opportunity. So perhaps you could direct a small word from you, and may Allah the Mighty and Majestic benefit her and others through it, if Allah wills.

The Shaykh : How old is your sister’s daughter?
Abu Layla : I mean, 19 to 20.

The Shaykh : Twenty?
Abu Layla : Yes.

The Shaykh : And is she wearing the hijab?
Abu Layla : What Allah willed, yes. She wears the jilbab, she is a woman of religion, she prays the five daily prayers, and she fasts on Mondays and Thursdays.

The Shaykh : What Allah willed.
Abu Layla : Yes, by the grace of Allah the Mighty and Majestic.

The Shaykh : This encourages me to advise her more than I would advise other girls of this time. So I remind her of his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): or as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said. And I remind her that the criterion in a husband is his religion and his character, just as the matter is the same for the woman. Just as it is obligatory for the man not to seek a bride who is beautiful, or rich, or of noble lineage, but rather to seek that she be religious and righteous, so the woman is commanded to seek a man not for his wealth, not for his beauty, not for his lineage and ancestry, but for his religion and his character. That is what is derived from his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): This is the advice of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) to the men who are the maintainers of women, both by law and by nature. As for by law, it is for the well-known verse: As for by nature, it is observed that the man is stronger than the woman in every way. Therefore, if one of the spouses is arrogant, the one who is usually arrogant is the man, not the woman. And even if there is an exception to this rule, meaning from this statement, that Allah the Mighty and Majestic, if He has commanded the man, through the tongue of his Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), to seek and intend the religious, righteous woman, and he is stronger than her, then it is even more so, and even more so, and even more so, that the wise Lawgiver commands the woman to seek the righteous man. As they say in our Syria, "with the wick and the oil," which is an idiom for the precision of the search and the precision of the investigation. And on this occasion, I say to her: It is obligatory for you to praise Allah the Mighty and Majestic that He has made your uncle, Abu Ahmad, available to you, who is precise and investigates and searches. And if it were not for that investigation and search by Abu Ahmad of this man, the incident would have happened, and the parents and the daughter behind them would have regretted this marriage, which was based merely on being deceived by his words, without searching for anything of his circumstances or his character. This is my advice to your sister’s daughter. And I ask Allah the Mighty and Majestic to tie for her a righteous husband who will protect her, preserve her, and defend her religion and her person. This is all I have.
Abu Layla : Amen, amen, our Shaykh. May Allah preserve you.

The Shaykh : May Allah keep you safe.
Abu Layla : May our Lord extend your life and bless it.

The Shaykh : O Allah, accept it, and may you have the same.
Abu Layla : And may He make you a source of pride for us and for all Muslims.

The Shaykh : May Allah preserve you, and welcome, and I hope for you good.
Abu Layla : May Allah honor you, and peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and Allah's mercy and blessings, and His forgiveness.