Question
Question: If a husband finds his wife not a virgin, is it permissible for him to press her with questions, to query her insistently and argue, or is that impermissible?
Answer
From Kitāb al-Ashʿathiyyāt:
A man came to ʿAlī (peace be upon him) with a woman and said: “O Commander of the Faithful, I married my wife as a virgin, then I consummated the marriage and found her not a virgin.” He, peace be upon him, said: “Woe to you! The hymen can be lost from a jump or leap, from menstruation, from ablution, and from prolonged breath—(in another copy: prolonged celibacy).
”Answer —with Allah’s enabling: It is obligatory upon a Muslim, when he sees from his brother what invites suspicion, to carry it to the best possible construction, not the worst, so long as a good construction is available.
The proof is His saying: “Why, when you heard it, did not the believing men and believing women think well of themselves …” [an-Nūr:12]; and His saying: “O you who believe, avoid much suspicion; indeed, some suspicion is sin. And do not spy …” [al-Ḥujurāt:12].
It is no secret that harming a believer is forbidden in Islam; and there is no doubt that the wife would suffer a shock that deeply affects her, shakes her to her core, and may cause her to collapse—perhaps the greatest shock she will face in her life. If interrogating her would lead to such harm, then interrogating her is forbidden.
Source: Min Thimār al-ʿIlm wa al-Ḥikmah vol.1
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