On the negative side, I feel that his religious commitment does not stem so much from conviction but from his upbringing and his family’s traditions. He wants to impose some things on me, not because they are part of Islam so much as for social appearances, so that he will appear to be a religious person who is strict; the way he and his family look at me and my family – they think that we are not religiously committed and are not modest enough, and that our womenfolk are dominant and controlling and direct the men according to their whims, although I think that most men in the world do what their wives want even if they show the opposite. They regard us as being of an inferior lineage to them, and one of the hardest things in a marriage is if one party looks down on the other or does not think that the other is able to fulfil the duties of married life. He wants me to devote myself and my life fully to him and his children, and to stop working and forget myself completely and give up all my dreams of completing my studies, improving my work performance or doing any other activities, or even going to the health club. If I exercise that will be a favour from him because the time that I spend on these things belongs rightfully to him and his children!
I am not against marriage or taking care of the children or serving the husband, but I believe that it is the wife’s right to have her own interests and privacy.
He thinks that housework is one of my duties, and if I employ a servant it must be at my own expense, because she will be doing my job. He objected strongly to my father’s condition of providing a servant in the marriage contract, and he thinks that this will make him look bad in front of his family, and that my conditions are impossible to fulfil. Don’t the daughters of the tribes and high-status families have difficult conditions or demands too? Please note that my family only stipulated that because they feared I might face problems that happen to working wives with their husbands because of having servants, and because the men in our society forget that housework is the husband’s responsibility according to Islam, and he is free either to do it himself or bring servants; if his wife does it, it is a favour on her part. Please note that I do not like to have a servant in the house, and with a little cooperation between the spouses and children, and using machines, and using external sources of help such as sending the clothes to the laundry and putting the children in daycare when one is at work, one can do away with the need for a servant and avoid the evils and problems that servants may bring. Men nowadays are no better than the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) who served his family and did housework.
He wants me to stop listening to music and not watch movies and soap operas, and not to wear pants, and to wear the abayah that comes down from the head, even though I have told him about my opinion on these matters. As for music, I am not bothered about it and I will give it up at the first opportunity. As for watching films and soap operas, I do not think it is haraam, and with regard to studying English it is a means of practising listening to the English language. As for soap operas, I only watch those that serve a purpose and are useful. With regard to wearing pants, I told him that I am a smart person and I know how to dress according to the time and occasion and the people I am going to meet. When I am at school and there are official visits, or I visit people I do not know, I do not wear pants, but I like to wear them on days off or trips out, because they are more covering for me as I move a lot. With regard to the abayah that comes from the head, I do not wear it because there is basically no specific way for Muslim women to wear hijab, and based on my experience I have found that it does not suit me. The abayah that comes from the shoulders and is closed in front, with a lose headscarf and a cover for the face is better for me and more covering, especially if I am carrying things or carrying children, or I am walking a long way. He thinks that all the places I go on trips to with my family (markets, trips to the seaside, leisure centres, even the corniche) are places of mixing and he cannot take me there. I have tried to understand his protective jealousy, but to be honest I am afraid that he is going to keep me locked up in the house, and I will only go out to visit family and relatives which I do not like very much, especially because of the gossip, destructive envy and grudges that happen among women. He says that I do not know how to communicate with him, and my approach is dry and I often offend him. I hope that you can teach me, because I have doubts about my abilities and I feel deep regret when I see that he is hurt by me.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
When we answer questions, we usually draw attention to
mistakes from a shar’i point of view that appear in the questions, some of
which may have to do with the question itself and others that do not. But it
is very important for us to highlight to the questioner what he has got
right, so that we will be fulfilling our duty to offer sincere advice
(naseehah) as Allaah has enjoined upon us.
Secondly:
We may sum up the things that are contrary to sharee’ah in
the question, whether they have to do with the wife or the husband, as
follows:
1.
Travelling without a mahram.
We understand this from what the sister says in her question:
“Now I am working in a village that is about 150 km from my town, i.e., it
takes an hour and a half to get there and an hour and a half to get back.”
If this is the case, and there is no mahram travelling with
her, then she should note that “It is not permissible for a woman who
believes in Allaah and the Last Day to travel without a mahram.” It is not
sufficient to have a group of women – as some scholars think – for a woman
to travel without a mahram; each woman in the group must have a mahram with
her.
For more information on this subject, please see the answers
to questions no. 3098,
69337,
45917 and
4523.
2.
Corresponding with a stranger
(non-mahram) via the internet
This is what has happened between you and a man who is a
non-mahram. Although this non-mahram has proposed marriage to you, there are
thousands who have not done so with the women whom they have caught in their
traps. The marriages that are built on such foundations may be susceptible
to doubt, suspicion and accusations, and the marriage may be doomed to
failure.
We have discussed the prohibition on correspondence between
the sexes in the answer to questions no.
26890 and
10221.
3.
It may be understood from the
word muraabahah that there is a riba-based loan involved.
This is when you say of your fiancé, “soon he will get
approval from the bank for a muraabahah loan so that he can complete the
plans for our wedding.”
The fact that most people call this transaction a loan is
calling it by its proper name; the banks try to trick people by calling it
muraabahah, when it fact it is a riba-based loan that involves interest.
For more details on this issue please see the answer to
question no. 36408.
4.
Talking to one another during
the engagement period.
You said in your question, “After we had been engaged for a
while, we began to speak on the phone (I know that we did wrong on this
point, especially since the marriage contract had not yet been done).”
It is essential to avoid being alone with one’s fiancée, or
going out with her, or mixing too much with her and talking to her,
especially on the phone, and when there is no mahram or other person
present.
See the answers to questions no.
7757,
2572 and
20069 for the
limits on the relationship between a man and his fiancée.
5.
Conditions in marriage
You say “Don’t the daughters of the tribes and high-status
families have difficult conditions or demands too?”
The answer is: No, not necessarily, because stipulating
difficult things for the husband is something that complicates married life,
because it may go beyond what the husband can afford, and that will have a
negative effect on his psychology and his life, and on how he interacts with
his wife and her family.
Moreover, stipulating difficult things and making demands on
the husband is not indicative of sound reason or high status. Faatimah (may
Allaah be pleased with her) was one of the noblest women in the world, and
the daughter of the leader of the Messengers, and she did not impose any
difficult conditions on her husband, or make many demands of him. The same
may be said of all the daughters of the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) and the daughters of his companions who were of noble
descent, religiously committed and wise.
It was narrated that ‘Ali (may Allaah be pleased with him)
said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) gave Faatimah a trousseau of a piece of velvet cloth, a waterskin, and
a leather pillow stuffed with idhkhir fibres.
Narrated by Ahmad (644) and al-Nasaa'i (3384); classed as
saheeh by al-Albaani.
There are reports in the Sunnah which point to the opposite
of what you think, which is encouragement to make things easy when getting
engaged and keep down the cost of marriage:
It was narrated from ‘Aa’ishah that the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “One of the good
signs in a woman is if her engagement is made easy and her dowry is made
easy.”
Narrated by Ahmad (23957) and classed as hasan by al-Albaani
in Saheeh al-Jaami’ (2235).
6.
Wife serving her husband
You say “the men in our society forget that housework is the
husband’s responsibility according to Islam, and he is free either to do it
himself or bring servants; if his wife does it, it is a favour on her
part.”
Although this is the view of the majority, it is a weak view.
A woman’s service in her home is not a favour on her part, rather it is
undoubtedly her duty, but it is to be done according to her ability and
strength.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him)
said:
She is obliged to serve her husband based on what a woman
like her customarily does for a man like him, which may vary according to
circumstances. What a Bedouin woman does is not like what a town-dwelling
woman does, and what a strong woman does is not like what a weak woman
does.
Al-Fataawa al-Kubra (4/561).
Shaykh ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Jibreen (may Allaah preserve him) was
asked:
I read in one of the newspapers here a fatwa by one of the
scholars which says that a wife’s serving her husband is not obligatory upon
her, rather the marriage contract allows him to be intimate with her only.
As for her serving him, that is part of kind treatment. He said that the
husband has to bring servants for his wife if she does not serve him or
serve herself for any reason. Is this correct? If it is not correct, then
praise be to Allaah that this newspaper is not widely circulated, otherwise
some husbands would become like bachelors when some of their wives read this
fatwa.
He replied:
This fatwa is not correct and should not be followed. The
women of the Sahaabah used to serve their husbands as Asma’ bint Abi Bakr
narrated that she served (her husband) al-Zubayr ibn al-‘Awwaam, and Fatimah
al-Zahra’ used to serve ‘Ali (may Allaah be pleased with them). It has
remained the custom of the Muslims that the wife serves her husband,
preparing food, washing clothes and dishes, and cleaning the house, as well
as tending and milking livestock, working the fields and so on, each
according to her abilities. This has been the custom from the time of the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) until the present
day, with no objections. But she should not be burdened with that which will
cause hardship, rather it depends on her abilities and what is customary.
And Allaah is the Source of strength.
Fataawa al-Mar’ah al-Muslimah
(2/662, 663).
See also the answers to question no.
12539 and
10680.
7.
Ruling on soap operas and
watching movies
You say “As for watching films and soap operas, I do not
think it is haraam”. This is undoubtedly wrong. Films include many evils
such as women going out unveiled, stories of haraam love, drinking alcohol,
haraam relationships, promotion of crime and transgression against good
morals.
For more details please see the answer to questions no.
21227
and 13956.
8.
You say “He wants me to stop
listening to music and not watch movies and soap operas, and not to wear
pants, and to wear the abayah that comes down from the head”.
With regard to music and singing, please see the details of
the ruling that they are haraam, in the answers to questions no.
43736,
5000
and 5011.
See the answer to question no.
8555 for the ruling on women
wearing the abayah that comes from the shoulders.
With regard to movies and shows, we already mentioned the
questions in which the ruling on that is discussed.
Thirdly:
To be fair, you mention something in your question that your
fiancé dislikes but it is something that is permissible for you according to
sharee’ah, which is your father’s stipulating that you should have a
servant, as you say in your question: “He objected strongly to my father’s
condition of providing a servant in the marriage contract”.
But there are rulings which apply to having a servant in the
house, and it may bring some negative consequences. Please see the answers
to questions no. 22980 and
26231.
Fourthly:
There are some things which your fiancé is asking for that
are valid, and you have no right to object to any of them. These include:
1.
You say “He wants me to devote myself and my life fully to
him and his children, and to stop working and forget myself completely and
give up all my dreams of completing my studies, improving my work
performance or doing any other activities, or even going to the health
club”.
For a woman to devote herself to her house, children and
husband is one of the greatest deeds that a woman can do. It is a deed that
cannot be surpassed in length of time and importance even by the material
benefits gained by the husband’s work outside the home.
There are many women’s voices in the west calling for women
to go back to the work that she does well, which protects her character and
honour, which is working in the home, for which there are not enough hours
in the day and night, so how about if she is distracted by going out of the
house all the time for work?
2.
You say: “He wants me to stop listening to music and not
watch movies and soap operas, and not to wear pants, and to wear the abayah
that comes down from the head.”
We have referred to these issues above.
3. You say: “He thinks that all the places I go on trips to
with my family (markets, trips to the seaside, leisure centres, even the
corniche) are places of mixing and he cannot take me there”.
He is correct in saying that these places are mixed, but it
is possible to avoid mixed places in some of them, and to choose a suitable
time and place for such trips.
You should note that his motive in not taking you to these
places is his protective jealousy towards you, which is something
praiseworthy in a husband. It is not bad jealousy like that which is
accompanied by doubt and suspicion, rather it is a praiseworthy kind of
protective jealousy that you should encourage. You can be subtle in choosing
suitable places and times for visiting those places or some of them.
See the answer to question no.
8901, in which there is a
fatwa from the scholars of the Standing Committee on the ruling on going to
leisure venues in which there are a lot of evils.
Finally:
Married life is wonderful and is based on mutual
understanding and harmony. Allaah has created therein love and compassion
between the spouses so that it will continue and last.
If the woman sees in herself or in the one who proposes to
her that that there is no harmony or similarity in thinking, then it is
better for her to taker her time and think long and hard before going ahead
with the marriage, especially if there are differences of opinion before
consummation of the marriage, or there are differences about matters in
which it is hard for either party to accept the view of the other, or to
understand his or her opinion or do without it in his or her life. In that
case going ahead with the marriage is a risk, not something assured.
What we advise you is to set yourself straight and give up
the haraam deeds to which we have drawn your attention – and this has
nothing to do with marriage, because they are haraam even if you do not get
married. After that you can work out something with your fiancé based on
what is permissible for you in sharee’ah. If he agrees to that and opens his
mind to it, then perhaps going ahead with the marriage will be good for both
parties, but if you continue doing the things that we have warned you about
that are nor permissible in sharee’ah, then we do not advise him to marry
you, and it is his right, indeed he is obliged, not to do that.
You should note that happiness is found in obeying Allaah and
He is the One Who guides people to His way. If Allaah helps His obedient
slave to find a blessed marriage and a good family, then he will be in a
kind of paradise before the Paradise of eternity, so strive hard to be
obedient and look for a husband who respects the limits set by Allaah, for
all good in this world will come to you by seeking the pleasure of Allaah.
Please see also the answers to questions no.
33710 and
22397.
And Allaah is the Source of strength.
No comments:
Post a Comment