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Fatwa CenterRaping a non-Muslim woman who exposes herself in front of a mosque
Question
Hi, Who is the greater sinner? A kafir woman who walks by a mosque everyday in a short skirt or a muslim man from the mosque who rapes her one day? Thanks Shawn
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and messenger.
It should be noted that this woman’s disbelief constitutes a huge disaster that is incomparable to any other sin. Verily, disbelief is the source of all sin. Therefore, Allaah, The Exalted, described disbelief saying: {…and his sin has encompassed him ...} [Quran 2:81] As-Sa‘di 
commented on the verse as follows: “The sin mentioned in the verse refers to Shirk (polytheism); this is indicated by the sentence, ‘and his sin has encompassed him,’ meaning that the sin surrounds the sinner from all directions, leaving for him no way out. Verily, this applies only in case of Shirk; a believer cannot be encompassed by sins in such a way.”
Moreover, the exposure of woman’s beauty to strange men is a serious immorality. However, this sin cannot be compared to the sin of the man who rapes her – if the intended meaning is having unlawful sexual intercourse (Zina) with her by coercion, this counts as two combined sins: first, committing Zina, which is one of the gravest major sins in Islam (please refer to Fatwa 85254 on Zina); second, practicing coercion against the second party, which is a form of injustice and aggression. This woman’s sin of exposing her beauty and adornment or even passing by the mosque while being exposed cannot be compared to the sin of Zina and rape (which are far graver) – may Allaah guard us and all Muslims against such an evil.
In fact, such a comparison is very odd and we do not believe that there is any wisdom behind it!
Muslims should prevent this woman from entering the mosque; however, this does not justify raping her in any possible case.
Allaah Knows best.
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