Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

as salam o alikum!

i wanted to ask a question about a deed that i have done. me and my fiancee are to be married INSHALLAH in the near future(in public) . and we love each other a lot. which lead us to do something which is not right. i have kissed as well as touch her. but we did not commit the actual "zina". what i tought (which maybe was wrong) was that she is my actual wife and still i love her as my wife. and there were no evil intentions in my mind. so we kissed .

now the question that i wanted to ask was that if my parents and her parents have agreed that we are to be married. and let us talk so why can`t we consider ourselves married. as it almost satisfies the condition for nikha that there should be two people who are witness to this that the father of the girl is giving her hand to the boy.which in this case is my mom and dad.
please correct me if i am wrong. and also if i have the wrong conception of this whole incident and what should i do in the future. as i certainly don`t want to break the law of ALLAH. as he is very dear to me as well............. 

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Relationship before marriage

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Beloved brother in Islam, your fiancé remains your non-mehram, and the two of you cannot be considered married in the sight of Allah, unless and until a proper Shariah Nikaah is performed. To meet your fiancé in private or touch her in any way would be crossing the boundaries laid down by Allah, and a grave sin in His Sight.

If Allah forbid, one were to cohabit with a woman before their Nikaah is actually performed, regardless of whatever reason, it would be considered ‘zina’ in the sight of the Shariah!

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan