Marrying a genuine virgin

Question: If one marries someone thinking that they were a virgin, will there be any compensation in the Next Life if it turns out that they weren’t?

Answer:

Wa alaykum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,

Dear questioner,

Thank you for your important question.

The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ‘He who repents from a sin is like someone who is sinless’ (Tabarani, Bayhaqi, and others; al Maqasid al Hasana, Sakhawi).

If someone genuinely repents from committing the sin of having pre-marital sex then Allah will forgive them, and one should not look down upon them.

If they then lie to one or clearly mislead one about their virginity, then one has been wronged, not because they married a non-virgin, but because they have been lied to.

In the Next Life, as with every other wrong done to one, there will be compensation. Again, not compensation for having married a non-virgin, but compensation for having been lied to.

To begin with, one should not ask about such matters, nor dwell on them, and definitely not pry.

If marrying a virgin is personally a really big deal for a person, that is okay, and one could take reasonable means (without asking directly) to try and find someone who is extremely unlikely to have done something like that in the past.

I pray this helps.

[Ustadh] Farid

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Farid Dingle has completed extensive years of study in the sciences of the Arabic language and the various Islamic Sciences. During his studies, he also earned a CIFE Certificate in Islamic Finance. Over the years he has developed a masterful ability to craft lessons that help non-Arabic speakers gain a deep understanding of the language. He currently teaches courses in the Arabic Language