I married an year ago, but I got in a serious problem when I knew that my little brother and my wife was involved in zina, I want to give divorce to her and cut off every kind of relation with my bro, I am doing right? and also please guide me if there is a relexation for them or Can I forgive them?
In the name of Allāh, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Assalāmu ῾alaykum wa Rahmatullāhi Wabarakātuh
This is a very difficult and perplexing position to be in and it’s certainly not an easy hurdle to overcome. However since you have asked about the possibility of “Can I forgive them?” it means your heart is big enough and you have enough resolve to overcome this situation, Insha-Allah.
Consult a pious, learned scholar in your locality for marriage counseling to take further steps to rebuild the trust between you and your wife. Only after you have gone through marriage counseling would you be able to arrive at a proper decision whether or not to divorce your wife. Then too, you should make istikhaarah before taking the decision.
Do not cut off relations with your brother Doing so will only engender further bitterness in you and will not make you any happier. Forgive your brother and drop the subject, and never bring it up again. For the future keep in mind that your wife has to keep hijab from him, just as with any other stranger, not because of this incident but because your brother is not a mahram to your wife.
One of the misconceptions that is present in Muslim societies in general is the laxity towards relations with a brother-in-law. However when we look at the teachings of Rasulullah (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) we find that we should be very careful because that laxity can easily lead to sin.
إياكم والدخول على النساء . فقال رجل من الأنصار : يا رسول الله ، أفرأيت الحمو ؟ قال : الحمو الموت
Rasullullah (salallhu alayhi wa sallam) said: “Beware of entering upon women.” So a man from the Ansaar (the native residents of Madinah) said: O Messenger of Allah (salallahu alayhi wa sallam): What about the brother-in-law? He (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) said “The brother-in-law is death”1
This hadith narrated by Imam Bukhari (rahmatullahi alayhi) in his Sahih, by Imam Muslim (rahmatullahi alayhi) in his Sahih, by Imam Tirmidhi (rahmatullahi alayhi) in his Sunan and others show how diligent one must be with the relatives of the husband who are not mahram to the wife.
Imam Tirmidhi has stated الحمو to be “brother-in-law” and Imam Nawawi (rahmatullahi alayhi) has stated it to be “relatives of the husband other then the fathers and the sons because they are mahram to the wife”2
Since the husband’s non-mahram relatives to his wife are not strangers, they are able to enter upon women easily and so the ever-present possibility of zina is more dangerous with such relations. Therefore we have been advised to be more cautious and the wife should practice Hijab with such non-mahram relations of her husband just as she would from strangers.
And Allāh Ta῾āla Knows Best
Wassalāmu ῾alaykum
Ml. Sohail Bengali
Correspondence Iftā Student, US.
Checked and Approved by:
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Dārul Iftā, Madrasah In῾āmiyyah
________________________________________________________________________
Visit us at:
http://www.al-inaam.com [ Madrasah In῾āmiyyah ] | http://www.askimam.org [ Dārul Iftā – Madrasah In῾āmiyyah ] |http://groups.google.com/group/shariahcompliant [Shari῾ah Compliant Business Campaign] |http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shifaa [As-Shifā` Islamic Forum] | http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ulama_sa [Ulamā-SA Islamic Forum]
1 صحيح البخاري الرقم ٥٢٣٢ و صحيح مسلم الرقم ٢١٧٢ و الترمذي الرقم ١١٧١
2 ووقع عند الترمذي بعد تخريج الحديث ” قال الترمذي: يقال هو أخو الزوج، كره له أن يخلو بها…وقد قال النووي: المراد في الحديث أقارب الزوج غير آبائه وأبنائه، لأنهم محارم للزوجة
[ فتح الباري شرح صحيح البخاري – باب لا يخلون رجل بامرأة إلا ذو محرم والدخول على المغيبة ]