Question: My boyfriend and I have been together for the past 3 years and we met 4 years ago. We both are muslims and are totally committed to each other. We are both students at UWI. However my boyfriend would be finishing in May of this year and I in the next 2 years. We plan to get married after that since I would be able to finish school and he would be able to get a job and prepare a place for us within that 2 years, since we wanted to make sure that everything is in place before we get married. I listened to your programme on Sunday about courting and I also read the question/answer on the boyfriend/girlfriend in Islam on the website. Is it permissible to continue with our plans and if not then what is?

Answer: At present if you are courting and are maintaining a girlfriend/boyfriend type of relationship, then this is totally Haram in Islam and you are committing sins. You should immediately stop this sort of conduct and become more serious with this relationship. If both of you are serious and there are yet a few things to put in place, then (in consultation with your parents), you can do a nikah at present (understanding your responsibility to each other), and after some time you can begin to live together. In this way you can protect yourselves from sins and also be with each other as a husband and wife.


And Allah knows best.
Mufti Waseem Khan