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:

Assalam waleykum,

i have a girlfriend( relative) who is ready to do anything with me, I am going to marry her with in 8 months. Everybody is willing for this ( family members). I am afraid doing zena before marriage with her( is it permissable). Please reply asap with the best of your knowledge advising in stages as what would be GOOD, BETTER , BEST.

Thanks

Brother

with allah`s afraid.

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Answer:

The sin of zina

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 none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 17 Surah Israa verse 32:

Do not even go near ‘zina’ (fornication or adultery) for it is a very indecent thing and a very evil way!

Dear and beloved brother, an intention to marry someone or an ‘engagement’ has absolutely no legal basis or standing in the Sight of Shariah Law, and every single restriction which would apply to a non-mehram member of the opposite sex would apply to one’s fiancé until their actual ‘nikaah’ is performed.

It would not only be ‘BEST’, but ‘BEST-EST’ if you would fear Allah Subhanah and His Day of Accounting and absolutely abstain from privately meeting or talking with your fiancé alone until your ‘nikaah’ is performed, thus saving yourself from even getting into a situation whereby the Shaytaan may arouse your desires and tempt you into the evil abomination and crime of ‘zina’!

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 7 Surah Aaraaf verse 33:

33 Say (O Prophet (saws)): ‘The things that my Lord hath indeed (absolutely) forbidden (declared ‘haraam’) are: shameful deeds whether open or secret; sins and trespasses against truth or reason; assigning of partners to Allah for which he hath given no authority; and saying things about Allah of which ye have no knowledge.

Beloved brother, if the non-mehram sister invites you for ‘zina’ and you can bring yourself to fear Allah Subhanah and refuse her invitation, you cannot imagine what rewards your this piety will earn you in the Presence of your Lord Most Majestic!

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 2.504 Narrated by Abu Huraira

The Prophet (saws) said, "Seven people will be shaded by Allah under His Shade on the Day when there will be no shade except His. They are:

(1) a just ruler;

(2) a young man who has been brought up in the worship of Allah, (i.e. worship Allah Alone sincerely from his childhood),

(3) a man whose heart is attached to the mosque

(4) two persons who love each other only for Allah's Sake and they meet and part in Allah's Cause only;

(5) a man who refuses the call of a charming woman of noble birth for an illegal sexual intercourse with her, and says: ‘I am afraid of Allah’;

(6) a person who practices charity so secretly that his left hand does not know what his right hand has given (i.e. nobody knows how much and to whom he has given in charity).

(7) a person who remembers Allah in seclusion and his eyes get flooded with tears."

Dear and beloved brother in Islam, when it comes to a subject as serious as ‘zina’, upon which Islam has absolutely zero-tolerance, there is no such thing as grades of ‘good’, ‘better’, ‘best’…..but rather the indulgence or abstinence of such abominations can only be graded as right or wrong, lawful or unlawful, worst or best! To indulge in the abomination of ‘zina’ would be amongst the worst and most evil of sins one can commit in the Sight of Allah Subhanah; and to save oneself or abstain from this temptation and evil only because of the fear of Allah would, without an iota of a doubt, be amongst the ‘best’ deeds in the Sight of the Lord Most High, Most Majestic.

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

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan