Answered by Shaykh Abdurrahman ibn Yusuf Mangera
I’m a 25 year old male in Pakistan and have a MBA class fellow, whom I was very serious about. My family was ready and we had good plans for our future. One day it was raining heavily, one of our college-mates offered the girl a lift to her home. She agreed, and when they reached her home, he asked if he could use the washroom and after knowing that she is alone in her house, he raped her. She was threatened to keep it a secret, but she told me. I had a fight with the guy and he left the college and disappeared. I want his death with my own hands so strongly that I’m trying to track him down. I know Islam says have mercy, but I don’t want to give any mercy to a man like him. The girl became a psychopathic patient afterwards and remained under treatment for almost six months. She left her studies and all our plans are ruined now. My family is not agreeing to accept her as this case of hers has spread in our family. I want to marry her, but first I want to kill that man. My question is that under these circumstances, if I kill him, will it be okay? How much punishment I will get from Allah for this? Even if killing him is a sin, I’m ready to do it. He doesn’t deserve to live, does he? He is on run and the police work in Pakistan is such that no person with honour wants to go into a police station. Where do we go for justice, and if there is no other way to get justice, why not do the justice with our own hands, before he ruins another life?
Assalamu alaykum
In the name of Allah the inspirer of truth.
No it is not ok for you to kill this man. It is not permissible for you to take matters in your own hands like this. You would be extremely sinful for such actions if you carried them out and may have to face a similar penalty according to the laws of hudud in Shariah. Repent for the statements you have made since they have been said in extreme anger, and a believer needs to look at things with greater wisdom.
There are a number of points that need to be clarified:
1. Allah will deal with this person for the grave sin and crime he has committed no matter where he is. He will deal with him in a way that none of us can and he will pay for his sins. Hence be patient and look to Allah for assistance.
2. In Islamic law, a rape or adultery can only be established through either confession or through four witnesses who have seen the act take place in front of them and are prepared to bear testimony in an Islamic court as to the sin committed. I am sure the victim or her family has since filed the case in the courts and it will be difficult for him to come back home.
3. There is absolutely nothing wrong in you marrying her if this is possible. In fact we would recommend it since she needs all the moral support she can and you cannot give her that without being married to her.
4. We also learn from this the importance of following the laws Islam has laid out for male female interactions and the detriments of acting in contravention to these laws.
May Allah assist you in your good intentions, amin.
Wassalam
Abdurrahman ibn Yusuf