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:

if a girl and a boy deeply love eachother and promise to marry and are deeply sincere in heart then if they have sex is that right? and what if they do marry but have had sex with eachother before marriage? kindly comment on this. 

(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:

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

Your Question: if a girl and a boy deeply love eachother and promise to marry and are deeply sincere in heart then if they have sex is that right?

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 23 Surah Muminoon verses 5-7:

5 (The true believers are those) Who scrupulously guard their private parts,

6 Except with those joined to them in the marriage bond or (the captives) whom their right hands possess; for (in their case) they are free from blame.

7 But those whose desires exceed those limits are transgressors

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 5 Surah Maidah verse 5:

5 …. (Lawful unto you in marriage) are (not only) chaste women who are believers but chaste women among the People of the Book revealed before your time when ye give them their due dowers and desire chastity, not lewdness nor secret intrigues. If anyone rejects faith fruitless is his work and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost (all spiritual good).

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.

It two non-mehram members of the opposite sex happen to love each other, are deeply sincere in their hearts and promise to marry each other, there is absolutely no harm…..but to have sexual intercourse with each other before they are legally united in the sacred institution of ‘nikaah’ or marriage would constitute the abomination of ‘zina’ and a manifest transgression of the limits and boundaries ordained by Allah Subhanah, and without an iota of a doubt a grave sin in the Sight of Allah Subhanah!

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!

If those guilty of the crime of ‘zina’ are convicted in a Shariah Court of Law, Allah Subhanah has prescribed the punishment of a hundred lashes in public for their crime of ‘zina’ in the life of this world…..and if they were to die in a state whereby they did not seek sincere repentance for their transgression, their punishment in the life Hereafter would be much more severe and lasting!

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 24 Surah Noor verse 2:

2 The woman and the man guilty of ‘zina’ (fornication) flog each of them with a hundred stripes: let not compassion move you in their case in a matter prescribed by Allah if ye believe in Allah and the Last Day: and let a party of the believers witness their punishment.

Your Question: ….and what if they do marry but have had sex with eachother before marriage?

As grave and heinous the crime of ‘zina’ is in the Sight of Allah Subhanah, there is absolutely nothing in Shariah Law which prohibits the couple who committed ‘zina’ from marrying each other, if they wish to do so. Provided all the obligatory conditions of an Islamic Nikaah are met and honored, their subsequent marriage will be lawful, legal and valid in the sight of Shariah Law and of Allah Subhanah. The mere marriage of the two who committed ‘zina’ with each other would not by itself forgive them their grave sin, for it is sincere ‘taubah’ and repentance unto their Lord Most Gracious alone which will eliminate their abomination of ‘zina’ from their Book of Records.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 39 Surah Zumur verses 53-54:

(O Prophet) say: “O My servants who have wronged their own souls….Do not despair of Allah’s Mercy! Surely, Allah forgives all sins. He indeed is the All Forgiving, All Merciful. Return to your Lord and submit to Him before the scourge overtakes you; for then you may get no help from anywhere.”

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale Imraan verse 135-136:

Allah likes such good people very much, who, if ever they commit a base deed or wrong their own soul by the commission of a sin, remember Allah instantly, and ask for forgiveness from Him for their shortcomings. For who, but Allah, can forgive sins? (And Allah loves those) who do not knowingly persist in the wrongs they did. These will be rewarded with forgiveness from Allah, and with Gardens beneath which canals flow, and they will reside therein forever! How excellent is the reward of those who do good deeds!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anaam verse 54:

When those come to you who believe in Our Signs, say: "Peace be on you! Your Lord had inscribed for Himself (the rule of) Mercy. Verily if any of you did evil in ignorance, and thereafter repented and amended (his conduct), Lo! He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

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