The ruling on a man’s contact with a woman before marriage and its effect on the marriage
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The first message in this episode came from the questioner (M. M.) from Abu Dhabi. He says: I am writing to you about this issue that torments me day and night. I fell in love with a girl who works with me in the same place where I work, and she also loved me, and we agreed to marry. But before the marriage, Satan played with us, and we did something that contradicts Islam and religion. After I traveled to a distant land and then returned, I proposed to her and married her, and praise be to Allah, we are happy now. But we want you to guide us to something by which we may expiate for what happened between us. Does this affect our current marriage? Please inform us, may Allah reward you.
Answer: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and may Allah send prayers and peace upon His Messenger, our Prophet, our Imam, and our Master, and upon his family, his Companions, and those who follow them with excellence.
As for what follows: There is no doubt that a man’s contact with a woman before marriage is forbidden. He has no right to contact her, whether by kissing, touching, or otherwise. She has no right to contact him. He has no right to look at her 'awrah (the part of the body that must be covered), and she has no right to look at him. Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) said: : [Surat al-Nur: 30-31].
And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [Al-Ahzab:53] the verse. So what you did previously is reprehensible, and you must repent to Allah for it. You and she must repent to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) for what you both did of contact and intimacy. Repentance wipes out what came before it. Whenever each of you repents with a sincere repentance whose content is regret for the past and the resolve not to return to it, Allah will forgive what has passed. Even disbelief, if the disbeliever repents and embraces Islam, Allah turns to him in mercy. So likewise, sins, if the Muslim repents from them with regret for the past, abandoning them, and guarding against them out of reverence for Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) and fear of His punishment, and with a sincere resolve not to return to them, Allah will turn to him in mercy. And if the sin involves the right of a Muslim in his wealth, his blood, or his honor, he must seek his forgiveness for it or give him his right. So the result is that you and the woman must repent for what has passed, and repentance wipes out what came before it. This is done by regretting what you did previously, not returning to what Allah has forbidden for you, and having a sincere resolve not to return to such things. As for the marriage, it is not affected by the past. If the marriage has fulfilled its conditions, there is no harm, and we ask Allah to make it a blessed marriage. And praise be to Allah for safety from the causes of the anger of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) .
And what you did is a consequence of mixing; for the presence of a woman with a man in the office is one of the causes of committing fornication. For this reason, the scholars have stated the prohibition of a woman working with a man in the same office and the same job, where he is able to be alone with her, look at her, look at what Allah has forbidden from her, and where she looks at him with desire and temptation. This is among the forbidden things, and it is obligatory to guard against it and leave it. ... A woman has jobs where she is with her sisters and her own gender, and a man has jobs with his brothers and his own gender. But mixing them and placing them in one office and one job leads to much evil and great corruption, and one must guard against it. Similarly, the secretary for a writer, or a manager, or a doctor, or the like, all of these are reprehensible matters, all are forbidden, and all lead to corruption, zina (unlawful sexual intercourse), and fornication. One must guard against this. It is obligatory for the rulers of the Muslims and those in authority to guard against these reprehensible matters, and to place women with women and men with men. So the secretary for a man should be a man, and for a woman should be a woman. So the female doctor should be with women, and the nurse should also be with women. Similarly, the male nurse and doctor should be for men.
The point is that it is obligatory to keep this away from that, and to guard against the closeness of this to that, especially in jobs where the man and woman are in contact and he is alone with her, for its evil is great and its consequence is severe. And Allah is the One to be sought for help. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you.
Answer: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and may Allah send prayers and peace upon His Messenger, our Prophet, our Imam, and our Master, and upon his family, his Companions, and those who follow them with excellence.
As for what follows: There is no doubt that a man’s contact with a woman before marriage is forbidden. He has no right to contact her, whether by kissing, touching, or otherwise. She has no right to contact him. He has no right to look at her 'awrah (the part of the body that must be covered), and she has no right to look at him. Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) said: :
(30) Tell the believing men to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts. That is purer for them. Indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what they do. (31) And tell the believing women to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts
قُلْ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ يَغُضُّوا مِنْ أَبْصَارِهِمْ وَيَحْفَظُوا فُرُوجَهُمْ ذَلِكَ أَزْكَى لَهُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا يَصْنَعُونَ وَقُلْ لِلْمُؤْمِنَاتِ يَغْضُضْنَ مِنْ أَبْصَارِهِنَّ وَيَحْفَظْنَ فُرُوجَهُنَّAnd he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
And when you ask [his wives] for something, ask them from behind a partition. That is purer for your hearts and their hearts.
وَإِذَا سَأَلْتُمُوهُنَّ مَتَاعًا فَاسْأَلُوهُنَّ مِنْ وَرَاءِ حِجَابٍ ذَلِكُمْ أَطْهَرُ لِقُلُوبِكُمْ وَقُلُوبِهِنَّAnd what you did is a consequence of mixing; for the presence of a woman with a man in the office is one of the causes of committing fornication. For this reason, the scholars have stated the prohibition of a woman working with a man in the same office and the same job, where he is able to be alone with her, look at her, look at what Allah has forbidden from her, and where she looks at him with desire and temptation. This is among the forbidden things, and it is obligatory to guard against it and leave it. ... A woman has jobs where she is with her sisters and her own gender, and a man has jobs with his brothers and his own gender. But mixing them and placing them in one office and one job leads to much evil and great corruption, and one must guard against it. Similarly, the secretary for a writer, or a manager, or a doctor, or the like, all of these are reprehensible matters, all are forbidden, and all lead to corruption, zina (unlawful sexual intercourse), and fornication. One must guard against this. It is obligatory for the rulers of the Muslims and those in authority to guard against these reprehensible matters, and to place women with women and men with men. So the secretary for a man should be a man, and for a woman should be a woman. So the female doctor should be with women, and the nurse should also be with women. Similarly, the male nurse and doctor should be for men.
The point is that it is obligatory to keep this away from that, and to guard against the closeness of this to that, especially in jobs where the man and woman are in contact and he is alone with her, for its evil is great and its consequence is severe. And Allah is the One to be sought for help. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.