Question: What are your views on an ex-husband and ex-wife staying in contact where there is a child involved? Is it haram to have a friendship (the brother assists the sister in making groceries, shopping for the child, etc), where the both persons want to be in the child's life and neither of them has re-married?

Answer: Yes, it is haram to have such a relationship which you have described. Seeing that both are no longer married to each other, it will not be permissible for them to have this type of togetherness. Being part of the child's life does not require one to behave in this manner. The Shariah has ordained laws regarding the custody of the child which allows each party to be a part of the child's life. If both parties continue in this manner, it would not only be wrong and sinful, but it would also pose a problem to each party when he/she wishes to remarry to someone else.


And Allah knows best.
Mufti Waseem Khan