Fatwa #132332 August 2005Saudi Arabia
After nikah only, can we touch each other?
Question
After nikah only, can we touch each other?
My nikah is done but I am still living with my parents. The Rukhsati(leaving) is not done yet. Can my husband talk to me, touch me now etc. I dont feel comfortable with the touching now. Mahr not paid yet. Can we discuss sexual talk? Jazakallah
Answer
The concept of Nikah now and rukhsati (wife going to live with husband) later falls in the category of a promise. The boy essentially agrees to exercise restraint in his marital rights until rukhsati.
If the boy did not agree to this, then the Nikah would not be performed. In essence, rukhsati is to defer intimacy until the rukhsati. The husband should keep up to his promise and not be intimate with his wife before the rukhsati. Allah states, ‘O you who believe, fulfil your promises.’ However, if the wife forfeits her right of deferring intimacy until rukhsati, then it is permissible for the husband to be intimate with his wife. The same ruling applies to intimate discussions. The wife has a right to claim her Mahr before submitting herself to her husband.
and Allah Ta'ala Knows Best
Mufti Ebrahim Desai