A new Muslim woman persecuted by her family and society Fatwa No: 131272
- Fatwa Date:12-1-2010
Assalam alaikom, I need your help and your advice. I am a revert of 3 years. I found Islam through your site and a few others which is what led me to convert. I am the ONLY muslim in my area, or that I know of. I am a 28 year old female. I live with my parents and I am greatly persecuted. Not only by my family but by many in this town. I use to live alone but things got so scary. I have had insults & threats written on my car and everything. When I was living on my own I woke up to find someone in my house. Alhamdulillah, Allah protected me and the police came in time before anything bad had happened. So I do not feel safe to live on my own. But yet the pressure and insults also come from my family. I woke up one morning to find my Quran destroyed. My life is hell. Despite all of this I have not given up my religion and I love Allah and his messenger, Prophet Muhammad (saw) very much. I am doing my best in being patient with my family just like Allah and his messenger told me to. I just feel so trapped. And it is even worse that I am woman. I have no way to find a husband to take me out of this horror story and I don't have a wali either. Because there are NO muslims here. I have the funds to migrate to a muslim country but my family hate Islam very much and they are against me moving to a muslim country, so I don't have a mahram to travel with me. I have no help and I don't know what else to do! Please help me! I have no muslim contacts, the nearest mosque is over 90 miles away and that is too far to travel without a mahram. I can't get online and find a husband because I do not have a wali and I am not supposed to communicate to closely with men. So please help me and give me advise. I am praying there is something that can be done, because I don't want to live on my own with the constant worry of a death threat and neither do I want to live here with my family always worrying someone will find my Quran and piss on it. Please advise me.
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.
First of all, we thank and praise Allaah Who guided you to Islam and we ask Him to make you firm and steadfast on His Religion until the Day you meet Him.
We advise you to seek beneficial knowledge, perform good deeds and befriend righteous and pious women, as these are the best things that help a Muslim remain steadfast on his/her religion.
We remind you to be patient, as patience is a key to overcome every difficulty and its outcome is nothing but good, Allaah willing. For more benefit on the excellence of patience, please refer to Fataawa 83577 and 85445. We also advise you to supplicate Allaah as much as possible to make for you a way out from distress and difficulties.
If the situation between you and your family is as you mentioned, and you fear to be tempted in your religion, then you are obliged to migrate. If you can migrate to a Muslim country where you can feel safe, then you should do so. However, if you cannot migrate to a Muslim country, you should travel to any other city in your country where you can find Muslim people who would help you in your religion and look for a pious husband for you. For more benefit, refer to Fatwa 82471.
Finally, you should know that the scholars stated that if a woman wants to travel for the sake of preserving her religion, she is permitted to travel without a Mahram out of necessity as we clarified in Fatwa 86565.
Also, you may propose yourself to a Muslim man to marry you, and there is nothing wrong in this. For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 89505.
Allaah Knows best.