What is the ruling on having brotherly ties between a strange man and a strange woman, and is the former considered a Mahram (unmarriageable) to the latter?
Such a relation between a strange man and a strange woman is forbidden in Islam because it involves forbidding what Allah has allowed by marriage, and allowing what Allah has forbidden such as looking and the like. Such a relation doesn`t render any act lawful between them, thus they are forbidden to look at each other, have a Khulwah (seclusion), and travel together.
During a flight from Amman to the UAE, while we were flying over Saudi Arabia, the captain announced that it was time to break our fast, coinciding with the exact time of sunset. After I had broken my fast with my first date, the captain apologized for the earlier announcement and clarified that the correct time would be in 20 minutes. Am I required to continue fasting on that day?
Whosoever break his fast at teh very first announcement to make up the missed day of Ramadan, since Allah, The Most Exalted, Said (What means): "then complete your fast Till the night appears" [Al-Baqara/187]. And Allah Knows Best.
It was found out that a man divorced his wife for the third time in 2005, but they continued cohabiting as man and wife. However, when they realized that what they were doing was unlawful, they came the Iftaa` Department in 2009 and were told that they can`t be together. What is the position of Sharia on this couple?
All perfect praise be to Allah the Lord of the Worlds. May His peace and blessings be upon Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions.
Her Iddah* period starts after the third divorce. As for the continued cohabitation, it is unlawful because being ignorant about the rulings of Sharia while in Dar Al-Islam* is no valid excuse. If a baby came as the fruit of this unlawful consummation of marriage, then a judge of Sharia has the final say in this regard because lineage is a serious matter. And Allah The Almighty Knows Best.
* ʿIddah: a specified period of time that must elapse before a Muslim widow or divorcee may legitimately remarry. The Qurʾān (Sura,2/verse,228) prescribes that a menstruating woman have three monthly periods before contracting a new marriage; the required delay for a nonmenstruating woman is three lunar months.
* Dar Al-Islam: designates a territory where Muslims are free to practice their religion, though this often implies the implementation of Islamic law, whereas Dar al-Harb represents those lands ruled by non-believers
An Arab young man had an illegitimate sexual relationship with a Christian American while she was staying in one of the Arab countries. After she returned to America, she told him that she had doubts that she was impregnated by him. It is worth pointing that it is hard for him to get a visa to the USA. What is the ruling of Sharia on this?
All perfect praise be to Allah the Lord of the Worlds. May His peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions.
Zina (Adultery and extramarital relations) is one of the grave sins that incur the wrath of Allah if the adulterer didn`t make immediate repentance. However, the child isn`t attributed to the adulterer. Rather, he/she is attributed to the woman who got pregnant by him and, according to Sharia, it isn`t considered a legitimate child of the adulterer. And Allah The Almighty Knows Best.
