Fatwa No : 82471 |
Muslim Somali woman in U.K seeking husband |
Fatwa Date : Sha'baan 25, 1421 / 23-11-2000 |
If a Muslim woman 25 years of age has no help from her family in finding a suitable husband what can she do? I am from Somali living in theUK my parents will not look for a husband for me or my sisters, and there are 6 of us. In our culture the woman's family can't look for husbands, it has to be a male that approaches your family and that is not always very likely to happen. Many of Somalis get married by just meeting in other ways. Most of the time the parents are not aware of how they met. I would not like to meet my future husband in this non-Islamic way. If my brothers would like to get married they would have no problems because that's the way the Somali culture works. I'm looking for a good Muslim man, not some are who does not practise Islam.
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.
It is a usual tradition that a man proposes to a girl to marry her and not the other way round. Allah Says (interpretation of meaning): {And if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with the orphan girls, then marry (other) women}[4: 3]. The Prophet said: "Select the pious woman, may you be blessed". Because a woman is always proposed to by the man rather than the woman proposing to the man, the guardian of a girl is responsible to look for a suitable, religious match for her, one who will respect her and help her to follow the rules of Sharia. There is no harm for the guardian to ask a good pious person to marry his daughter. Ibn Umar said that Umar bin Al-Khattab said, "When (my daughter) Hafsa bint 'Umar lost her husband Khunais bin Hudhaifa As-Sahrni, who was one of the companions of Allah's Apostle and had fought in the battle of Badr and had died in Medina, I met 'Uthman bin 'Affan and suggested that he should marry Hafsa saying, "If you wish, I will marry Hafsa bint 'Umar to you. On that, he said, 'I will think it over.' I waited for a few days and then he said to me. 'I am of the opinion that I shall not marry at present.' Then I met Abu Bakr and said, 'if you wish, I will marry you, Hafsa bint 'Umar.' He kept quiet and did not give me any reply and I became more angry with him than I was with Uthman. Some days later, Allah's Apostle demanded her hand in marriage and I married her to him. Later on Abu Bakr met me and said, "Perhaps you were angry with me when you offered me Hafsa for marriage and I gave no reply to you?' I said, 'Yes.' Abu Bakr said, 'Nothing prevented me from accepting your offer except that I learnt that Allah's Apostle had referred to the issue of Hafsa and I did not want to disclose the secret of Allah's Apostle, but had he (i.e. the Prophet) given her up I would surely have accepted her". [Al-Bukhari].
If a father fulfills his responsibility, no doubt, it is best. If he does not do so, then you may remind him in a polite way, saying him that Umar (May Allah be upon him) did so and so for his daughter. If you feel any obstacle doing so, you may tell your mother or any female relative or any other trustworthy Mahram (unmarriageable person) about this matter. Talking to these relatives about this matter is permissible. They may look for a good match for you or they may remind your father to pay attention to for you and your sisters.
Know that what some young girls and boys are practicing by meeting each other, etc. is not permissible in Islam. Since such meetings contain many forbidden acts, e.g. looking at each other, being alone with each other and the like, which are forbidden by Allah. You may contact Islamic organizations in your country to help you in this regard. You should turn towards Allah, supplicating Him and asking His Help. No doubt, He will provide you a good and pious husband, Insha Allah.
Allah knows best.
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