Preventing The Girlfriend – Boyfriend Relationship
Zina (fornication) has become a commonplace occurrence within the Muslim Youth community, and the Muslim girls and boys have sadly fallen prey to the snares of Western society. You may wonder how such a situation occurs when most Muslim parents virtually put their children under ‘lock and key’. The answer is that although most parents are strict where their children are concerned, they do not take the time to talk and explain to them about the seriousness of Zina. Instead, they give a Fatwa of “no boyfriend” when their daughters reach puberty.
The following article highlights ways in which we can teach our children to shun this corrupt act.
In Islam, there is no such thing as a girlfriend or boyfriend relationship. You are either married or you are not. This is what we have to instill into our children at an early stage. We should not wait for them to come to us when they are teenagers to ask about a girlfriend-boyfriend relationship. At this late stage, even if we forbid them to have such a relationship, how certain are we that they will obey us if someone smites them? Hence, we must teach our children that a girl or boy can have a relationship with a non-mehram only when they are married. Furthermore, if a girl or boy enters into a girlfriend-boyfriend relationship, then he/she is entering into a pre-marital relationship.
At the teenage level, we should not be shy to teach them the severity of premarital relationships. We need to make them understand that pre-marital relationships are like extramarital relationships, or what is commonly known as adultery or ‘an affair’.
It ruins the community by corrupting the people. It unleashes desires that, once allowed free rein, will destroy families. We can quote to them the examples of illegitimate and abandoned children, broken homes, abortions, and sexually transmitted diseases – the list goes on.
We should also point out to them the punishment for sexual relationships outside of marriage: Ibn Masoud (r.a.a) related that Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) said, “The blood of a Muslim may not be legally split other than in one of three instances: the married person who commits adultery, a life for a life, and one who forsakes his religion and abandons the community.” [Bukhari and Muslim].
In other words, the married person who commits adultery is to be killed by stoning to death [Muslim].
But what about the unmarried person who has sexual relationships? Rest assured that this person will not go unpunished – he or she is to be caned or whipped one hundred times [Muslim].
Even in the Hereafter, the punishment is severe: the Prophet (s.a.w) saw adulterers, men and women, in a baking oven in Hellfire [Bukhari].
At this stage, your teenage child may say that girlfriend-boyfriend relationships need not go as far as the sexual act; that they can control themselves and simply enjoy each other’s company. To counter this, you say that it is a fact when a girl and a boy are alone together, their sexual desires awaken, and before they know it, they will be doing things that are not permissible.
The reason for this is that Shaitan will be the third person with them [Ahmad], and he will whisper and tempt them with the forbidden. This is why Islam shuns all avenues leading to the corruption of the mind, body, and soul.
Something else we must teach them is to restrain their desires. We can do so by giving them examples of the rewards for doing so, such as the person who controls his lust will be among the people who Allah bestows mercy upon: Abu Hurairah (r.a.a) narrated that Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) said that among the seven persons whom Allah will shade in His Shade on the Day (of Judgment) when there is no shade except His Shade, is a man who is tempted by a beautiful woman and refuses to respond for fear of Allah. [Bukhari and Muslim].
Below are more points on how to help your child, at an early age, to be chaste so that when he/she is older, he/she can avoid getting into a girlfriend-boyfriend relationship. First, you must talk and explain to them these things when they are young, then when they are older, you make sure that it is put into practice.
You must teach him or her to:
1. Not to freely mix with the opposite sex.
2. Not to look at the opposite sex. This is done by lowering or averting their eyes, as Allah tells us: “Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and to protect their private parts. That is purer for them. Verily Allah is All-Aware of what they
do. And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and protect their private parts…” [24:30-31]
Furthermore, Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) said, “…do not let a second look follow the first. The first look is allowed to you, but not the second.” [Ahmad, Abu Dawood, at-Tirmidhi].
What this means is that the first look is by accident. If this happens, then do not take a second look. Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) also said that the eyes also commit adultery by looking at someone with lust. [Bukhari]
3. For girls, teach them not to make their voices seductive or sweet in front of non-mehram. This is done by lowering the voice and not flirting. As Allah tells the wives of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) “…do not be too pleasant of speech, lest one in whose heart there is a disease should feel desire for you…” [33:32]
4. Last but not least, teach them to wear appropriate clothing so as not to draw attention to themselves. That is, girls should wear Hijabs and loose clothing, while boys should also wear loose clothing, not tight jeans/pants. It is sad that, often, parents allow their children to wear the so-called fashion clothing which, in most cases, do not meet the requirements of the acceptable Islamic dress code. What is even sadder is to see Muslim mothers covering themselves properly, walking with their uncovered teenage daughters and sons.
We must start teaching our children the need to feel modesty, especially around the opposite sex.
If we instill this into them at an early age, then, InshaAllah, whenever they are near the vicinity of the opposite sex, they will feel shy and, therefore, will not act inappropriately.
It is also important that we keep the communication channels open with our children so that we can talk and explain things to them, and they can ask us questions, without any party feeling embarrassed. Then, when they are older, and with help from us, they will begin to understand why it is that there cannot be a thing called ‘the girlfriend-boyfriend relationship’.
By Amatullah Islam