Her fiancé was holding her hand during the Tawaaf of Umrah Fatwa No: 118735
- Fatwa Date:4-3-2009
salam Alikum, i have a question concerning 3omrah and wudu. I did 3omra with my family and fiance/husband. My fiance was holding my hand/shoulder not with any sexual intention but to protect me from crowd and avoid clashing with others. When i asked him, he said he had no sexual intention and it didnt affect his feelings at all. However, for me it did stir some affection feelings and there was some discharge which i think happened in tawaf. (this omrah happened 2 times.) Is my Omra valid? and what must i do to wipe any sins. Must i repeat it?
Jazakum ALlah khair
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.
If this man touched you over your clothes and not directly on your skin, then this touching does not invalidate ablution, but if this touching was directly on your skin and not over the clothes, then if this happened without any desire, his ablution was not invalidated, and if it was with desire, then his ablution was invalidated.
As far as you are concerned, your ablution is not invalidated just because of touching, because the ablution of the person who is touched is not invalidated even if he feels enjoyment, as stated by the Hanbali School of jurisprudence –despite some controversy about it –but your ablution is invalidated by having discharges. Indeed, the scholars differed in opinion about conditioning being in a state of purity (ablution) for the validity of Tawaaf; the majority of the scholars conditioned it, whereas others did not condition it. For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 117359.
According to the view of the majority of the scholars who conditioned ablution, if it is ruled that your ablution is invalidated, then your Tawaaf was invalid and therefore, your ‘Umrah was not complete and you are still on the state of Ihraam. In this case, you should avoid the prohibitions of Ihraam and you should return to Makkah and perform Tawaaf and Sa’y and then trim your hair. Nonetheless, you are not sinful for the prohibitions of Ihraam that you have breached out of ignorance and forgetfulness.
However, if you are absolutely unable to return to Makkah, then you may act according to the second opinion because it is a considerable opinion and prominent scholars hold this view. In both cases, you are obliged to pay a ransom because the touching (and like) with desire is among the prohibitions of Ihraam, and indeed the touching was accompanied with desire, and the scholars stated that a woman in that desire is like a man in being obliged to pay a ransom. In this case, there are three options for the ransom: slaughtering a sheep and distributing it on the poor in Makkah, fasting for three days, or feeding six poor people.
On the other hand, it should be noted that a fiancé is a non-Mahram for his fiancée before the marriage contract. Therefore, if you mean that he was not your husband when he touched you, then there is no doubt that you are wrong when you allowed him to touch you and this is even confirmed when performing ‘Umrah, because how can a person who is performing ‘Umrah commit a sin while performing it. Therefore, you and your fiancé are obliged to repent to Allaah but if he is your husband, then you are not sinful for the touching but if it was with desire, then this is forbidden when in the state of Ihraam.
Allaah Knows best.