Question:
Is it forbidden to marry someone who committed zina (fornication/adultery) in the past since the Quran says, “The fornicating woman is only to be married to a fornicator.“?
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful,
To begin, the fornicator is the one who has become well known in the community to be a person of zina or the one proven in a court to have committed zina. A mere rumor does not put the person in the category of a fornicator. If they recieve the hadd punishment for it, they are no longer deemed fornicators. As for the ruling of marrying one, some have said that the verse was abrogated, and as a result of that, it is speculative and the prohibition is downgraded to to indicate discouragement rather than prohibition.
Source: Hashiyat al-Dusuqi ‘ala al-Sharh al-Kabir, Dar al-Ma’arif; vol 2, pp 349.
Dardir:
(وَ) كُرِهَ (تَزْوِيجُ) امْرَأَةٍ (زَانِيَةٍ) أَيْ مَشْهُورَةٍ بِذَلِكَ، وَإِنْ لَمْ يَثْبُتْ عَلَيْهَا ذَلِكَ
Dusuqi:
(قَوْلُهُ: وَإِنْ لَمْ يَثْبُتْ عَلَيْهَا ذَلِكَ) أَيْ هَذَا إذَا ثَبَتَ عَلَيْهَا ذَلِكَ بِالْبَيِّنَةِ أَمْ لَا، وَأَمَّا مَنْ يَتَكَلَّمُ فِيهَا وَلَيْسَتْ مَشْهُورَةً بِذَلِكَ فَلَا كَرَاهَةَ فِي زَوَاجِهَا وَمَحَلُّ كَرَاهَةِ تَزَوُّجِ الْمَرْأَةِ الَّتِي ثَبَتَ بِالْبَيِّنَةِ زِنَاهَا إذَا لَمْ تُحَدَّ أَمَّا إذَا حُدَّتْ فَلَا كَرَاهَةَ فِي زَوَاجِهَا بِنَاءً عَلَى أَنَّ الْحُدُودَ جَوَابِرُ. وَلَا يُقَالُ: إنَّ قَوْله تَعَالَى {وَالزَّانِيَةُ لا يَنْكِحُهَا إِلا زَانٍ} [النور: ٣] يُفِيدُ حُرْمَةَ نِكَاحِهَا لِأَنَّا نَقُولُ: الْمُرَادُ لَا يَنْكِحُهَا فِي حَالِ زِنَاهَا أَوْ أَنَّهُ بَيَانٌ لِلْأَلْيَقِ بِهَا أَوْ أَنَّ الْآيَةَ مَنْسُوخَةٌ.
Written by Dr. Shadee Elmasry
Reviewed by Murabit Benevidez
