Married Secretly and Wife May Be Pregnant
Fatwa No: 389476

Question

I am studying bsc hons.i have 8 month left to complete my study.After getting admission i am in a relationship with one of my classmate.but when we relaize its haram in islam and we were practising islam so we married secretly in 2015 to make it a halal relation.we had planned that when our study will complete and as soon as i managed a job we will tell our family.I asked 3-4 mawlana and mufti here and they all said that our marrige is valid.my wifes brother is also studying in our university.he know about our marrige but he dosent accet it.evrybody here in our university knows about our marrige.i and my wife live separatly as our parents dont know about our marrige but they know that we r in a love relationship.but my wifes family will not accept me as i am a student now and if i will not be able to do anything good in my future profession perhaps they will not accept me.in 20 days ago one of my elder brother of university invited us in his family and we stay there on the day.we have intercourse.but we r afraid that my wife may be become pregnant as his menstrual cycle is not still happening.Now my question is what should i do if my wife is pregnant?i may be able to manage my family but my wife is afraid that there will be a big problem in her family if they know this.and she want a abortion.but i only fear Allah then anything else in dunia.i know abortion is a big sin in islam.we love jannah and we fear Allah.but in our social system we have to face a big challenge if our parents know this.beacuse evrybody will insult our parents if they know this.here in bd a love relation is common but a marrige is difficult if the boy have no job.so brother what shoul i do know?what will be better for both my islam and my family? i am in a big problem. since it is only 20 days does abortion is permitted in this condition? or should we tell evrything to our parents? it is possible for me but my wife will not as she has a great fear and love for his parents.

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

What we can say in general is that the correct marriage has conditions that must be met for it to be valid; some of which we have already mentioned in Fatwa 83629; so please refer to it.

The most important of these conditions is the presence (or consent) of the guardian and the presence of two witnesses.

However, there is a difference of opinion between the majority of the scholars, on one side, and Abu Haneefah, on the other, in conditioning (the presence or consent of) the guardian, as they set this as a condition whereas he does not. Nonetheless, the view of the majority of the scholars is the view that we adopt here in Islamweb.

However, if you had asked a scholar about this matter and he is someone who is trustworthy in his religion and knowledge, and you had told him the truth about what happened, and he issued a Fatwa to you that the marriage is valid, then you can act according to his Fatwa.

Whereby, if you did not tell him the matter as it really and exactly happened, then you should fear Allah and ask your question in a way that conforms to the reality so that the Fatwa will appropriate to the question.

Abortion is forbidden at every stage of the development of the fetus, even if it is only at the Nutfah (sperm-drop) stage. This is the view that we adopt here in Islamweb.

Some scholars are of the view that it is permissible to carry out abortion if the pregnancy is less than 40 days if it is for a sound reason. The resolution of the prominent scholars [in Saudi Arabia] reads:

"If the pregnancy is at the first stage –which is within the period of forty days –and there is a legitimate (Islamically justified) benefit in aborting the fetus, or in order to repel an expected harm, then it is permissible to abort it." [End of quote]

It should be noted that it is very serious to be lenient in doing something before asking the scholars, especially in the matter of marriage as it is a matter which makes (enjoying) private parts lawful, while the principle ruling on this matter is that private parts are forbidden. Al-Qurtubi said in his Tafseer:

"A layman who does not know how to derive the rulings from their principles (texts) in regard to any part of his religion that he does not know because of him not being qualified to do so; such a person is obliged to go to the most knowledgeable person of his time or in his country and ask him about his case; and then he should act upon his Fatwa, as Allah Says (what means): {So ask the people of the message if you do not know.} [Quran 16:43] He must endeavor to find the most knowledgeable person of his time until he finds a person whom most people agree to be the most knowledgeable." [End of quote]

For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 374002 and 384568.

Allah knows best.

Related Fatwa