What Is the Status of My Friend’s Faith?

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick

Question

I’m planning to marry a woman, and we’re already working to make it happen. However, I suspect that she may already have left Islam. When we talked about it, she wore hijab and all, but she hid that she’s no longer practising the Religion.

She told me that she still believes in a higher being/God, and she said she’s “open to Islam again when she’s ready”, which by her statement, I suspected that she may have already apostatised.

But because of the ambiguity, I’m unsure how to interpret her words. Can you help me with how to move forward with this? Whether I should ask her directly to address the status of her faith, or is there another way?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Especially Merciful. May Allah reward you for your concern about the faith of the person in question, and may the road to nikah be swift and pleasing to Allah.

It appears that the person in question still believes in Allah and Islam but has not acquired enough knowledge and guidance to practice it confidently.

It is best not to ask compromising questions directly that may place people in difficult situations and potentially out of the fold of Islam. Instead, encourage them with good advice and sound knowledge of the basics of Islam and its beauty.

SeekersGuidance has several suitable courses, such as Introduction to Islam and Necessary Knowledge to Practice Islam, that may benefit the above situation, and Allah knows best.

Remember, one only apostates by denouncing one’s faith and not by neglecting practice, especially when one is new to Islam. The neglect may be because of a lack of knowledge and guidance, and Allah knows best.

I pray that this is beneficial.

[Shaykh] Irshaad Sedick
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Irshaad Sedick was raised in South Africa in a traditional Muslim family. He graduated from Dar al-Ulum al-Arabiyyah al-Islamiyyah in Strand, Western Cape, under the guidance of the late world-renowned scholar, Shaykh Taha Karaan.

Shaykh Irshaad received Ijaza from many luminaries of the Islamic world, including Shaykh Taha Karaan, Mawlana Yusuf Karaan, and Mawlana Abdul Hafeez Makki, among others.

He is the author of the text “The Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal: A Hujjah or not?” He has served as the Director of the Discover Islam Centre and Al Jeem Foundation. For the last five years till present, he has served as the Khatib of Masjid Ar-Rashideen, Mowbray, Cape Town.

Shaykh Irshaad has thirteen years of teaching experience at some of the leading Islamic institutes in Cape Town). He is currently building an Islamic online learning and media platform called ‘Isnad Academy’ and pursuing his Master’s degree in the study of Islam at the University of Johannesburg. He has a keen interest in healthy living and fitness.