As-salamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu,
Dear brothers and sisters, I wish that someone can give me some clarification based upon the Qur'an and Sunnah, on this issue. Can a Muslim man marry another Muslim woman who committed adultery (sex outside of marriage) or vice versa? I don't see how this is the case. I have seen some Muslims see no trouble with this issue, and they seem to find no reason to think anything wrong with someone having a boyfriend or girlfriend and then marrying them!
The Qur'an says:
24:3 Let no man guilty of adultery or fornication marry and but a woman similarly guilty, or an Unbeliever: nor let any but such a man or an Unbeliever marry such a woman: to the Believers such a thing is forbidden.
(Yusuf Ali translation)
Yusuf Ali commentary:
Islam commands sex purity, for men and for women, at all times, before marriage, during marriage, and after the dissolution of marriage. Those guilty of illicit practices are shut out of the marriage circle of chaste men and women.
Having said that, I really find this outrageous that Muslims do not know of this rule in Islam. I find there to be a lot of beauty in this teaching. Those who kept themselves pure deserve those who also kept themselves pure. I will admit, I have never committed adultery in my life. Allah Himself warned me of it a long time ago, and by Him I would never want to disobey Him after He warned me personally to never go in the direction of getting a girlfriend.
As a man, I see women and I really crave for them out of this intense desire and passion. Keeping it hidden and locked away is extremely difficult. I have been successful so far in my life and I have tried my level best to not fraternize with women. In fact, I have made myself anti-social when it comes to women and made it such that I only talk to them for work or business purposes and nothing else. I end up sometimes being more friendly than I have to, and then I find I have to keep away from them and avoid them. I wonder if that's wrong or not? I know as a Muslim we have to be good towards humanity, but it is so hard to find that balance with women. I feel wrong keeping any of them as friends in the first place.
And then there comes marriage. I really don't know what to do about that. I have been doing my level best to avoid women my whole life because I realized that is the only way to keep myself from having a girlfriend. I have never had a girlfriend, and have spoken to women outside of my family very rarely. I mean, how am I supposed to deal with getting married when I have lived this way until now? And above all, how am I supposed to know if a girl had a boyfriend before and she would actually be faithful to me? How do I know she isn't too friendly with other men and fraternizes with them too often? I am really uncomfortable with the idea of a woman who fraternizes too often with men. It just seems wrong. How would I know she is chaste or not? Do I get to know her, waste my time thinking I would marry her and find myself facing the fact that she is unchaste after a long time and start all over in finding someone else? How should I find out chastity or not? There is the issue of the girl's honor as well as the family's honor. I really don't know how I would deal with this.
Advice needed brothers and sisters. I know I put a lot out there, but I really trust you to help me out with some of these issues and share some of the ways in which you know how to deal with these. These perplexing questions are keeping me from wanting to get married. I wonder if being a monastic at this point is better than getting married to an unchaste woman. No offense sisters, I just don't know who is trustworthy these days in Western society. I don't mind a woman who is secretive about the kind of passions she might have, as long as she hasn't been with a man before me or gets friendly with men beyond what is allowed by Islamic tenets.
Dear brothers and sisters, I wish that someone can give me some clarification based upon the Qur'an and Sunnah, on this issue. Can a Muslim man marry another Muslim woman who committed adultery (sex outside of marriage) or vice versa? I don't see how this is the case. I have seen some Muslims see no trouble with this issue, and they seem to find no reason to think anything wrong with someone having a boyfriend or girlfriend and then marrying them!
The Qur'an says:
24:3 Let no man guilty of adultery or fornication marry and but a woman similarly guilty, or an Unbeliever: nor let any but such a man or an Unbeliever marry such a woman: to the Believers such a thing is forbidden.
(Yusuf Ali translation)
Yusuf Ali commentary:
Islam commands sex purity, for men and for women, at all times, before marriage, during marriage, and after the dissolution of marriage. Those guilty of illicit practices are shut out of the marriage circle of chaste men and women.
Having said that, I really find this outrageous that Muslims do not know of this rule in Islam. I find there to be a lot of beauty in this teaching. Those who kept themselves pure deserve those who also kept themselves pure. I will admit, I have never committed adultery in my life. Allah Himself warned me of it a long time ago, and by Him I would never want to disobey Him after He warned me personally to never go in the direction of getting a girlfriend.
As a man, I see women and I really crave for them out of this intense desire and passion. Keeping it hidden and locked away is extremely difficult. I have been successful so far in my life and I have tried my level best to not fraternize with women. In fact, I have made myself anti-social when it comes to women and made it such that I only talk to them for work or business purposes and nothing else. I end up sometimes being more friendly than I have to, and then I find I have to keep away from them and avoid them. I wonder if that's wrong or not? I know as a Muslim we have to be good towards humanity, but it is so hard to find that balance with women. I feel wrong keeping any of them as friends in the first place.
And then there comes marriage. I really don't know what to do about that. I have been doing my level best to avoid women my whole life because I realized that is the only way to keep myself from having a girlfriend. I have never had a girlfriend, and have spoken to women outside of my family very rarely. I mean, how am I supposed to deal with getting married when I have lived this way until now? And above all, how am I supposed to know if a girl had a boyfriend before and she would actually be faithful to me? How do I know she isn't too friendly with other men and fraternizes with them too often? I am really uncomfortable with the idea of a woman who fraternizes too often with men. It just seems wrong. How would I know she is chaste or not? Do I get to know her, waste my time thinking I would marry her and find myself facing the fact that she is unchaste after a long time and start all over in finding someone else? How should I find out chastity or not? There is the issue of the girl's honor as well as the family's honor. I really don't know how I would deal with this.
Advice needed brothers and sisters. I know I put a lot out there, but I really trust you to help me out with some of these issues and share some of the ways in which you know how to deal with these. These perplexing questions are keeping me from wanting to get married. I wonder if being a monastic at this point is better than getting married to an unchaste woman. No offense sisters, I just don't know who is trustworthy these days in Western society. I don't mind a woman who is secretive about the kind of passions she might have, as long as she hasn't been with a man before me or gets friendly with men beyond what is allowed by Islamic tenets.