[Q-ID0840] Does a woman’s hymen have anything to do with her being a virgin or not?

QUESTION:

What do the scholars of the Dīn and muftīs of the Sacred Law state regarding the following issue: Many people assume that if there is some emission of blood flowing from the private region of the bride on the first night of the wedding, then this must mean that she is a virgin. And if there is no blood flow, etc. then they blame and accuse her of fornication – is doing so correct?

Questioner: Ubayd from UK

ANSWER:

بسم اللہ الرحمن الرحیم
الجواب بعون الملک الوھاب اللھم ھدایۃ الحق والصواب

Such a presumption is totally contradictory to Islām and to blame a chaste woman just because of there being no blood is Harām, Harām, Harām, because sometimes there is no blood flow due to the hymen having been stretched and torn as a result, and this can occur due to multiple reasons, such as delaying marriage, or an illness, or jumping around somewhere, or being startled all of a sudden, etc. In addition, it is Harām to unjustly blame a male or female Muslim of fornication without any Islamic legal proof and is a major sin; the Holy Qur’ān has commanded that such a person be lashed.

It is narrated from the noble and valiant ‘Ālī – may Allāh Almighty further increase his nobility – stating,

“عن علي قال: البهتان على البراء أثقل من السموات”

‘Blaming innocent people [i.e. without a sin having been committed] is more heavier and oppressive than the skies (i.e. it is a great sin).’

[Kanz al-’Ūmmāl, vol. 3, p. 802, Hadīth no. 8810]

واللہ تعالی اعلم ورسولہ اعلم صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم
کتبہ ابو الحسن محمد قاسم ضیاء قادری

Answered by Mufti Qasim Zia al-Qadri
Translated by Haider Ali Madani

Read the original Urdu answer here: [Q-ID0840] Does a woman’s hymen have anything to do with her being a virgin or not?