Lying to Avoid Military Service Fatwa No: 373084
- Fatwa Date:19-3-2018
aslamualeykum,as the case mentioned in fatwa number 326500 mandatory military service for women in non-muslim country what is the ruling in making fake marriage contract(making marriage contract with the intention of divorcing and not leaving as wife and husband)so as to get rid of mandatory military service or national service which has a lot of ruling against islamic ruling,my second question is what is the ruling regarding agirl praying in public places like street,airport so as not to miss time of prayer
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. {C}
First of all, we thank you for being keen on knowing Islamic rulings and asking about the matters that you need to know about your religion; this coincides with the Saying of Allah (which means): {So ask the people of the message if you do not know.} [Quran 16:43] So we ask Allah to reward you greatly.
The matter is as we have already stated in the Fatwa that you referred to in the question in relation to a woman doing the military service.
What can be a solution for this troubling situation is to write a dummy marriage contract that is not a real contract, meaning there is no Islamic contract.
Even though it includes some kind of lying, but lying is permissible when in necessity.
An-Nawawi said in his book Riyadh As-Saaliheen:
"Every noble purpose that can be achieved both by telling the truth, then it is forbidden to tell a lie to achieve it. However, if it is not possible to achieve it except by lying, then lying about it is permissible. If achieving that purpose is permissible in itself, then lying is permissible. If achieving that purpose is obligatory, then it is obligatory to lie (about it)." [End of quote]
This is concerning your first question.
As regards your second question, the answer is that there is no harm for a woman to pray in an open public place. Nonetheless, if there is a concealed place (where she is not seen by men), then it is better to pray in it.
The evidence that it is permissible for a woman to pray in a public place is that women used to attend the ‘Eed prayer with the Prophet .
Umm ‘Atiyyah narrated that she heard the Prophet saying: “The mature girls and unmarried virgins should come and attend the virtue (resulting from the prayer) and hear the supplications of the believers, as well as the women in menses; all should go out for the ‘Eed prayer, and participate in the good deeds as well as the invocations of all the Muslims, but the women in menses should keep away from the place of the prayer.” [Al-Bukhaari and Muslim]
It is known that the ‘Eed prayer was performed during the time of the Prophet in the prayer area, which is a public place outside Al-Madeenah.
For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 352432, 351313, 68283 and 118016.
Allah knows best.