Q43: MIXING OF GIRLS WITH BOYS Nowadays boys and girls like...

Q43: MIXING OF GIRLS WITH BOYS Nowadays boys and girls like to live together right from their youth but results are not good; they fail to reach permanent bond of love and marriage. Frequently, the girls move from one boy to another and at last are left out. For safety against marrying a left-out girl, can a Shia boy have a girl from his youth? If not, then is it a sin marrying a prostitute? A. No Shia (and no Muslim) is allowed to have any contact with any woman who is not his 'Mahram' (e.g.

mother, daughter, sister, aunt, niece, mother-in-law, daughter-in-law) unless he is married to her. If there is any social problem, it is because the people have left the path of sheriat. If they encounter any difficulty by going against sheriat, it is their fault. Rules of sheriat cannot be changed to suit the whims of a man (or of a community) which has no regard for Law of Islam, and wants Islam to give him concession because he (or they) has/have already commited a sin.

Sin deserves punishment, not 'concession'. Q44: HIGHER EDUCATION FOR GIRLS Is education, especially further education, for females forbidden in Islam? Give reasons. A. I am sending you the latest issue of the 'LIGHT' wherein you will find the answer to a question about 'Purdah' (see Question 37)'. If any girl can observe the rules of the Sheriat, as explained in that answer, she may get education as you have asked.

But if she, by getting further education, is not able to remain within the limit laid down by Sheriat, then she has to forego anything which makes her go against the Sheriat, be it education or service. In the eyes of Islam, a Muslim who follows the rules of Sheriat faithfully (even if he/she is ignorant in the eyes of his friends) is thousand times better than a Muslim who goes against Sheriat (even if he is considered highly educated by the Society).

Q45: RIGHT OF WOMAN CONCERNING MARRIAGE May I beg to seek your valued FATWA in respect of nikah Marriage Ceremony, to be performed in accordance with the tenets of Islam.

I am a young Muslim girl of about 23 years of age of the Bohra Shia Sect and our Amil Saheb, who possesses the High Authority of His Holiness the Syedna Saheb in Kenya refuses to grant permission to the Bohra resident Priest in Mombasa to perform my "Nikah' Marriage Ceremony by putting allegation on my four brothers that they are Not obedient to him or to the Syedna Saheb, whereas my whole family is MUKHLISIN, loyal to the, Syedna Saheb and to the Dawoodi Bohra Faith.