Post-Adultery and Post-Fornication Marriage (4)

SECTION TWO

This is section two of our articles on post-fornication or post-adultery marriage. It is dedicated to demonstrating the evidence produced by those who hold the counter-idea – the impermissibility of the post-fornication or post-adultery marriage. The proponents of disallowing such marriages have based their evidence upon three sources:

In this article, we will look at Logic & Principles, leaving the other two sources for future articles. By the word logic, it is meant what human mind can accept with conviction and satisfaction; and finally, people unanimously agree on it, or at least, it is accepted by an overwhelming majority; and the word principles, has been taken to refer to the presence of an accord between this idea and the fundamentals used in the Islamic jurisprudence on which Muslim scholars usually base their arguments and so refer to them particularly in case of difference in opinions.

Some youths and even young adults for that matter, when pursuing illegal sexual relationship, tend to trick and deceive the girl who resist their sexual advances. The most commonly deceptive trick used by these men is to entice the not-so-witted, the not-so-smart-thinking girls to a fake marriage proposals if they go ahead into these unlawful relationship with them. Many girls are duped by these men; so they accept and yield to their seduction only to realize later that it was an utter lie.

It is logically conceivable, therefore, that the legalization of post-fornication and post-adultery marriages has been a reinforcement for committing adultery among young Muslim men and women. The permissibility of post-formication and post-adultery marriages has been the reason for moral corruption and carefree attitude among young people when it comes to sexual relationships. In such societies, a wicked young man sees no consequence for his evil conducts; and a gullible young girl thinks she will be rewarded with marriage by agreeing to engage in pre-marriage sexual relationship. She will have no reason not to believe since the society she lives in has accepted such marriages. Had the idea of impermissibility of the post-fornication and post-adultery marriages prevailed in Muslim societies and entrenched in their culture, Muslim girl would not have been taken advantage of: she could recognize a lie when she hears it. She could respond to it by saying that: the post-fornication and the post-adultery marriages are not allowed in the Islamic religion. So the fact is that, there will be no marriage between us after we engage in an illegal sexual relationship.

In a nutshell, the answer to whether post-fornication and post-adultery marriages are allowed or forbidden, has taken two logical approaches. One approach is to permit such marriages to take place; but this encourages more adultery and fornication in Muslim societies. The alternative approach is to disallow such marriages to happen, thereby forcing members of the Muslim communities to learn to restrain themselves from committing adultery and fornication. Furthermore, this second logical approach is supported by one of the major fundamentals of Islamic jurisprudence which states that:

Whoever wants to get a thing before its proper time, he is punished by being denied of it.1

This is a principle which governs hundreds, if not thousands, of legal verdicts relating to the Islamic Law. In fact, the topic of this discussion is under this same principle. A clarifying example is that of a person who kills his heir, whom he could have inherited had he died naturally; but in this case the killer will be subjected the principle: “He who wants to have a thing before its proper time, he is punished by being denied of it”, and so will lose his right to the inheritance.

Finally, this law is equally applicable to the crime of committing adultery and fornication. For those who decide to do so, have chosen to do a thing before its proper, legal time, and so they are liable to be denied of marriage eternally. Certainly, this step is a strong disciplinary measure and very likely to bring about a clean, decent society and apt to uprooting the temptation and immoral attitude therefrom.

To be continued in Article 5.

Juma Al-Mazrui