Aslam

Praise be to Allah.

I advise your father and the father of this woman not to

prevent this marriage, so long as there is no shar’i reason to prevent it.

If your brother loves this woman and she loves him, then it is in their

interests to get married. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be

upon him) said: “There is nothing better for two people who are in love than

marriage,” i.e., if a man loves a woman and she loves him, then let them get

married, and that will calm them down and protect them from doing anything

haraam. Isn’t their getting married better for him, for her and for their

families than their falling into something that Allaah has forbidden? The

Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, addressing

the guardians of women, if a man comes to propose marriage: “If there comes

to you one with whose religious commitment and character you are pleased,

then marry (your daughter) to him; if you do not do that then there will be

fitnah (tribulation) and widespread corruption on earth.”

But if there is a shar’i reason to prevent that, then our

advice to your brother is to obey his father and to remain chaste, and to

strive hard in doing so. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be

upon him) said: “Whoever strives to be chaste, Allaah will help him to be

chaste,” i.e., whoever does his utmost to be chaste, Allaah will grant him

chastity and help him. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“As for those who strive hard in Us (Our Cause), We will

surely guide them to Our paths (i.e. Allaah’s religion — Islamic

Monotheism)” [al-‘Ankaboot 29:69]

And he should look for

another wife who will help him with his religious commitment and his worldly

interests.

With regard to witchcraft, if a person regularly reads

Qur’aan and recites the adhkaar that the Prophet (peace and blessings

of Allaah be upon him) used to recite when going to sleep, when waking up,

in the morning and the evening and at other times and in other

circumstances, then he will protect himself thereby from the accursed

Shaytaan. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“Allaah enjoined five things upon Yahya ibn Zakariyya, which he was to

follow and to enjoin upon the Children of Israel…” then he mentioned them,

among which was: “and He commands you to remember Him. The likeness of that

is of a man who is being pursued by his enemy, until he comes to a strong

fortress where he protects himself from them. Similarly a person cannot

protect himself against the Shaytaan with anything better than the

remembrance of Allaah (dhikr).”

Al-Mi’wadhaat (soorahs seeking protection with Allaah) are

among the greatest things by means of which a person may protect himself

against witchcraft, so recite them in the morning and in the evening, after

every prayer and before going to sleep.

Make a lot of du’aa’ for your brother, that Allaah may guide

him and grant him wisdom. And Allaah knows best.