My father was working in Fuvamullah, Maldives since January 2015. He was very athletic and was a professional swimmer. On May 10, 2015 there was a terrible storm in the sea along with a lot of rain, he went to swim as per his routine. My mother went to the beach with him that day and was taking a walk on the shore and saw him enter the water to swim, and when half an hour was over, she got worried as she could not see him swimming, so she contacted the Police and Maldives search operation team came. They started search with the help of helicopters and also sent divers to look him. The search operation lasted 15 days. It will be 4 years this year, and there has been no news since. We are his three sons, and no daughters. We contacted Maldives search authority a couple of times in these 4 years but they have no updates regarding this case. What is the ruling in this case?
Do we perform janazah of absentia?
Do we make our mother observe iddah?
Do we wait further?
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
We are sorry and sad to know of your father’s unfortunate situation. May Allah take him in his rahmah and may Allah grant the family sabre-jameel.
Our advice is you contact your local Ulamaa body and explain to them the situation. They will advise accordingly based on the laws of mafqoodul-khabr (missing husband).
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Aboobakr Siddeeq bin Mufti Amjad Mohammad
Student Darul Iftaa
Azaadville, Johannesburg, South Africa
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.