Islamic Rulings - Living Shariah Verdicts

Islamic Questions & Answers

I am a single woman living on my own, and I work in a hotel in reception. Is my work haraam, knowing that I do not wear hijab and I afraid that I will be fired if I start to wear hijab, and I cannot find any other work? I am 34 years old. Can I get married on paper to a non-Muslim so that I will be able to emigrate and go and live abroad, because I am afraid of spinsterhood and the people talk a lot, and I cannot stand their watching me any more.

Praise be to Allaah.

Firstly:

We ask Allaah to guide you and make you independent of means by that which He has permitted so that you will have no need of that which He has forbidden, and by means of His bounty alone.

Secondly:

Your question implies that currently you are not wearing hijab, for fear of being fired from your work. We will never advise you to do anything but that which we would want for our own wives, sisters and daughters. No matter what the situation, as you say, the hijab is an important matter. It is the symbol of the believing woman and the sign of her modesty and chastity. It is not permissible to neglect it on the grounds of seeking provision, which Allaah has guaranteed to everyone, and has promised to give more to those who obey Him and seek His pleasure. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

"And in the heaven is your provision, and that which you are promised"

[al-Dhaariyaat 51:22]

And Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

"And whosoever fears Allaah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (from every difficulty).

3. And He will provide him from (sources) he never could imagine. And whosoever puts his trust in Allaah, then He will suffice him. Verily, Allaah will accomplish his purpose. Indeed Allaah has set a measure for all things"

[al-Talaaq 65:2-3]

So have certain faith and trust in Allaah, and be certain that your provision will not cease even if you wear hijab, rather we hope that this will bring a great relief and great provision as Allaah has promised. It is narrated in a saheeh report that our Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Whoever gives up something for the sake of Allaah, Allaah will compensate him with something better than it." Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Hijaab al-Mar'ah al-Muslimah.

So wear your hijab and seek permissible work in which there is no free mixing with men, and Allaah will compensate you with good, for all things are in His hand, and His bounty is great, may He be glorified and exalted.

See also question no. 6666.

Thirdly:

It is not permissible for a Muslim woman to marry a non-Muslim, no matter what the reasons, even if that is only on paper as you say. Marriage is a serious matter and is to be taken seriously, regardless of how it is done. There is no such thing as marriage on paper only, as some people think, rather there is binding marriage. If it fulfils the conditions then it is valid and if it does not fulfil the conditions then it is a haraam marriage and it is not permissible for anyone to do it.

Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

"And give not (your daughters) in marriage to Al-Mushrikoon (polytheists) till they believe (in Allaah Alone) and verily, a believing slave is better than a (free) Mushrik (idolater), even though he pleases you. Those (Al-Mushrikoon) invite you to the Fire, but Allaah invites (you) to Paradise and forgiveness by His Leave, and makes His Ayaat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) clear to mankind that they may remember"

[al-Baqarah 2:221]

"then if you ascertain that they are true believers send them not back to the disbelievers. They are not lawful (wives) for the disbelievers nor are the disbelievers lawful (husbands) for them"

[al-Mumtahanah 60:10]

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: The Muslims are unanimously agreed that a kaafir cannot inherit from a Muslim and a kaafir man cannot marry a Muslim woman. End quote from al-Fataawa al-Kubra (3/130)

Once again we refer to the matter of provision (rizq) – as marriage comes under the general heading of provision. One of the greatest means of attaining provision is obedience to Allaah, may He be exalted. It is strange that people try to attain provision by disobeying Allaah. This is more likely to close the door to provision; even if it is open, this will cause a person to get carried away (and he will end up in Hellfire) – we ask Allaah to keep us safe and sound.

There follows an important hadeeth which will increase us in faith and certain belief that provision comes through obedience to Allaah. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "The Holy Spirit (Jibreel) has inspired to me that no soul will die until it has completed its appointed term and received its provision in full, so fear Allaah and do not be desperate in seeking provision, and no one of you should be tempted to seek provision by means of committing sin if it is slow in coming to him, for that which is with Allaah can only be attained by obeying Him." Narrated by Abu Na'eem in al-Hilyah; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami', no. 2085.

Do not pay any attention to the looks and comments of others, for their words do not in fact cause any harm or benefit. Late marriage may be for a good purpose willed by Allaah; we do not know where goodness lies. So delegate your affairs to Allaah, may He be exalted, and spend your time in doing good deeds and expiating bad deeds, for the appointed time will soon come, the Day on which the victors will attain victory and the losers will incur loss.

"And whoever is removed away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise, he indeed is successful. The life of this world is only the enjoyment of deception (a deceiving thing)"

[Aal ‘Imraan 3:185]

How many married woman has Allaah blessed with children and wealth, but they will be driven to the Fire on that Day.

How many women do not attain wealth or find a husband, but they will be in the highest parts of Paradise.

Have faith, obey Allaah and remain chaste, for this world is transient and fleeting.

"Verily, the home of the Hereafter ___ that is the life indeed (i.e. the eternal life that will never end), if they but knew"

[al-‘Ankaboot 29:64]

May Allaah help us and you to obey Him and seek His pleasure.

And Allaah knows best.

Marrying with the intention of getting divorced is haraam

What is the ruling on marrying with the intention of getting divorced?  A man may be travelling and he gets married, but his intention is to divorce her when he wants to go back to his own country.

Praise be to Allaah.

Some scholars said that a marriage done with the intention of getting divorced is an invalid marriage, because it is temporary, so it is akin to mut'ah marriage.

Among those who are of this opinion are the scholars of the Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas. We have quoted their fatwa in the answer to question no. 91962.

Others are of the view that it is a valid marriage, but it is haraam due to the deceit and betrayal involved, because if the woman and her guardian knew that the husband was only getting married with the intention of divorce after a few days or a month and so on, they would not have agreed to that.

Among those who are of this opinion is Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him). He was asked:

There is a man who wants to go abroad because he is being sponsored by the government, and he wants to maintain his chastity by marrying a woman there for a specific period, then after that he will divorce this wife, without telling her that he is going to divorce her. What is the ruling on his doing this?

He replied:

One of two scenarios must apply to this marriage that is done with the intention of divorce. Either he stipulates in the marriage contract that he is marrying her for a month or a year or until his studies end, which is a mut'ah marriage and is haraam, or he is intending that without stipulating it. The well known Hanbali view is that it is haraam and the marriage contract is invalid, because they say that that which is intended is like that which is stipulated, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Actions are but by intentions and each person will have but that which he intended." And because if a man marries a woman who was divorced thrice by her husband for the purpose of making her permissible for him, then he divorces her, then the marriage is invalid, even if that is done without any stipulation, because that which is intended is like that which is stipulated. If the intention is tahleel (making it permissible for the woman to go back to her first husband) then the contract is invalid. Similarly the intention of mut'ah renders the marriage contract invalid. This is the view of the Hanbalis. The other scholarly view concerning this issue is that it is valid to marry the woman with the intention of divorcing her when he leaves the country, like those who go abroad to study and so on. They said: Because this is not stipulated, and the difference between this and mut'ah is that when the time stipulated comes, separation is automatic, unlike this, because he may like this wife and want her to stay with him. This is one of the two views of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah.

In my view, it is valid and is not mut'ah, because the definition of mut'ah does not apply to it. But it is haraam because it is deceiving the wife and her family, and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade deceiving and cheating. If the wife knew that this man only wanted to marry her for this period, she would not have married him and her family would not have agreed. Just as he would not want to give his daughter in marriage to a person who intends to divorce her when he no longer has any need of her, how can he agree to treat others in a way that he would not like for himself? This is contrary to faith, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "No one of you is a believer until he likes for his brother what he likes for himself." And because I have heard that some people use this opinion as a means to do something which no scholar would approve: they go to other countries just to get married, so they go and get married, and they stay there for as long as Allaah wills with this wife whom they intended to marry for a short time only, then come back. This is also a grave wrong and closing the door to it would have been better because of the deceit and betrayal involved in it, and because it opens the door to such things, as most people are ignorant and most people's whims and desires encourage them to transgress the sacred limits of Allaah. End quote.

Fataawa al-Mar'ah al-Muslimah (2/757, 758).

It says in the resolutions of the Fiqh Council:

Marrying with the intention of divorce means: a marriage in which the conditions of marriage are fulfilled, but the husband intends in his heart to divorce the woman after a certain length of time, such as ten days, or an unknown length of time, such as when the husband has completed his studies or when he achieves the purpose for which he came.

Although some scholars permitted this type of marriage, the Council thinks that it is not permissible, because it includes deceit and cheating, because if the woman or her guardian knew about that, they would not have agreed to this marriage contract.

And because it leads to serious negative consequences and real harm which damages the reputation of the Muslims.

And Allaah is the Source of strength. May Allaah send blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions. End quote.

http://www.themwl.org/Fatwa/default.aspx?d=1&cidi=162&l=AR&cid=13

Whatever the case, marrying with the intention of getting divorced is haraam, and it may be either invalid in and of itself like mut'ah, or haraam because of the deceit and betrayal involved.

And Allaah knows best.

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