Faking Marriage & Divorce for Obtaining Green Card
Question
As-Salam Alaykum, I am from the Subcontinent and I have a question about marriage and divorce. I came to the United States to set up a business and to become financially well-off. However, I have run into a problem that I cannot get a green card. My question is that would it be permissible for me to divorce my wife from the Subcontinent on paper only so that I can marry an American woman for some time to get the green card ? My intention is to divorce the American woman after I have the green card and remarry my wife from the Subcontinent. Is this permissible in Islam ? ( Question By : Foulan )
Answer
Wa `Alaykum As-Salam Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
Question
As-Salam Alaykum, I am from the Subcontinent and I have a question about marriage and divorce. I came to the United States to set up a business and to become financially well-off. However, I have run into a problem that I cannot get a green card. My question is that would it be permissible for me to divorce my wife from the Subcontinent on paper only so that I can marry an American woman for some time to get the green card ? My intention is to divorce the American woman after I have the green card and remarry my wife from the Subcontinent. Is this permissible in Islam ? ( Question By : Foulan )
Answer
Wa `Alaykum As-Salam Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All thanks and praise are due to Allah and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger. Dear questioner! Thanks for your good question which reflects a desire to acquire knowledge and have a clear view of Islamic teachings.
In the very beginning, we would like to stress the fact that Islam aims at creating a stable atmosphere wherein every true believer establishes a stable and good Muslim family. Marriage is meant to be the strong bond of Allah and the lawful means of setting the corner stone of a society.
Brother, you have to keep in mind the fact that marriage contract, in Islam, is so solemn that Shari`ah lays down rules and regulations that guarantee its stability and continuity. Thus, Islam renounces all forms of temporary marriage.
Answering the question in point, the prominent Muslim scholar Dr. Taha Jabir Al-`Alwani, president of the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences and president of the Fiqh Council of North America, (Dr. Al-`Alawani occupies the Imam Al-Shafi’i Chair in Islamic Legal Theory as a professor in his specialty field. Particularly interested in the social implications of Islamic law, he is a major participant in the activities of Muslim social scientists, publishing works such as his Ethics of Disagreement, The Rights of the Accused in Islam, and Linking Ethics and Economics: The Role of Ijtihad, in the Regulation and Correction of Capitol Market (a co-authored occasional paper )states the following:
Allah Almighty declares cheating as prohibited. This applies to any form of cheating, whether to individuals or government. Upon entering the States, you applied for visa. This application is a contract between you and the U.S. government. Being here in the States, you should respect the law and the constitution of the country.
To marry a woman just on papers without having a real intention to establish a family is really an evil deed. Such an act involves telling lies and cheat which are both Haram. Marriage, being a sacred institution, is to be shown due respect and never played with.
At the same time, making paper divorce without having the intention to do so, thinking that this will render the divorce invalid is a total miscalculation, for the divorce is still valid according to the majority of scholars. In the Hadith, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is reported as having said: “Three things are considered valid whether done seriously or jokingly; divorce, marriage and manumitting slaves.”
Even if you find an American lady who accepts such a fake marriage, both of you will be conspiring against the law of the country. You will have only yourself to blame.
I would like to urge all Muslims in the West to be a good examples and representatives of their religion. Muslims are commanded always to be pure and straight forward. In the life of a Muslim, there is no lies, forms of deceit or cheating.”
In the very beginning, we would like to stress the fact that Islam aims at creating a stable atmosphere wherein every true believer establishes a stable and good Muslim family. Marriage is meant to be the strong bond of Allah and the lawful means of setting the corner stone of a society.
Brother, you have to keep in mind the fact that marriage contract, in Islam, is so solemn that Shari`ah lays down rules and regulations that guarantee its stability and continuity. Thus, Islam renounces all forms of temporary marriage.
Answering the question in point, the prominent Muslim scholar Dr. Taha Jabir Al-`Alwani, president of the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences and president of the Fiqh Council of North America, (Dr. Al-`Alawani occupies the Imam Al-Shafi’i Chair in Islamic Legal Theory as a professor in his specialty field. Particularly interested in the social implications of Islamic law, he is a major participant in the activities of Muslim social scientists, publishing works such as his Ethics of Disagreement, The Rights of the Accused in Islam, and Linking Ethics and Economics: The Role of Ijtihad, in the Regulation and Correction of Capitol Market (a co-authored occasional paper )states the following:
Allah Almighty declares cheating as prohibited. This applies to any form of cheating, whether to individuals or government. Upon entering the States, you applied for visa. This application is a contract between you and the U.S. government. Being here in the States, you should respect the law and the constitution of the country.
To marry a woman just on papers without having a real intention to establish a family is really an evil deed. Such an act involves telling lies and cheat which are both Haram. Marriage, being a sacred institution, is to be shown due respect and never played with.
At the same time, making paper divorce without having the intention to do so, thinking that this will render the divorce invalid is a total miscalculation, for the divorce is still valid according to the majority of scholars. In the Hadith, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is reported as having said: “Three things are considered valid whether done seriously or jokingly; divorce, marriage and manumitting slaves.”
Even if you find an American lady who accepts such a fake marriage, both of you will be conspiring against the law of the country. You will have only yourself to blame.
I would like to urge all Muslims in the West to be a good examples and representatives of their religion. Muslims are commanded always to be pure and straight forward. In the life of a Muslim, there is no lies, forms of deceit or cheating.”
