Why Forcing a Victim to Marry Her Attacker Is Not Islamic

As-salamu alaykum - I need to speak up about something that still happens in some places: when a girl is assaulted, her family forces her to marry the attacker to “save the family’s honor.” Let me be clear: this is not Islam. This is not justice. It’s fear of gossip dressed up as “tradition.” The Qur’an forbids coercion and demands fairness and protection for the wronged. Forcing a traumatized woman to wed the person who harmed her goes against those principles. The Prophet ﷺ handled cases of harm by protecting the victim, punishing the wrongdoer, and ensuring the woman’s rights - he never advised making her marry her attacker. Justice and care for the victim were the priority. This is a cultural problem, not a religious one. Too often families care more about what people will say than what Allah commands, and innocent women suffer. They are pushed into a lifetime with someone who hurt them, all in the name of “honor,” a notion the Qur’an never demanded. If a woman is harmed, she should get safety, healing, justice, support, dignity, and the right to choose her own future - not be forced to live with her abuser. I’m saying this because faith is not the issue here; ignorance and fear are. Islam protects the victim - always.