Law - Family
Lesson 68
· Lawful marriage is a duty on all
those who are capable of meeting its responsibilities and who fear temptation.
It is a Sunnah on all who are capable but unwilling to marry. Conditions for a valid marriage
a) A male guardian, nearest relative to the woman, after having her
permission if she is a virgin, and her counseling if she has been married before
b) Two witnesses known for their integrity and piety
c) The contract is in a traditional form. Commissioning to sign the
contract is permissible. Equal social standing between husband and wife is a
condition.
d) Dowry is to be given to the wife.[1]
·
It is recommended not to exaggerate
in the value of the dowry. It is allowed to be delivered at the time of making
the contract, or to defer a part of it or all to a stated term.
·
If marriage is terminated before
coition by divorce, then the wife has the right on half of the dowry,
and on the death of the husband, then the whole amount is for her and she
inherits him.[2]
· The Sunnah rituals of marriage are
engagement, banquet (Walimah), declaring marriage by melodious or permitted
songs, praying for the couple, and the two pray on their coition.[3]
· The wife has the right to
set conditions for the contract that are not against the nature of marriage, and
do not prohibit something permissible or vice versa.
· Either of the two spouses has the
choice to annul the marriage or continue in the following situations:
discovering a severe defect which was not apparent before marriage, the
husband's inability to pay the prepaid dowry or the dutiful support of the wife,
or the husband’s absence without leaving living expenses for his wife.[4]
Allah says:
This
means: “Then marry (other) women of your choice, two or three, or four but
if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only
one or (the captives and the slaves) that your right hands possess.” (4,
An-Nisa’: 3)
Allah says:
This
means: “And marry those among you who are single (i.e. a man who has no
wife and the woman who has no husband) and (also marry) the Salihun (pious,
fit and capable ones) of your (male) slaves and maid-servants (female
slaves).” (24, An-Nur: 32)
The Prophet (peace be
upon him) said:
“O young men, those among you
who can support a wife should marry, for it restrains eyes from casting
(evil glances)
and preserves one from immorality.”
He (peace be upon him)
also said:
“Marry
women who are loving and very prolific, for I shall outnumber the peoples by
you.”
The
conditions of marriage:
The Prophet (peace be
upon him) said:
“There
is no marriage without a guardian.”
(Reported
by At-Tirmidhi)
He (peace be upon him)
also said:
“A
woman without a husband has more right to her person than her guardian, and
a virgin’s consent must be asked from her, and her silence implies her
consent.” (Reported by An-Nasa’i)
He (peace be upon him)
also said:
“If he whose faith and morals
please you comes to you, allow him to marry
(the woman in your charge).
If you do not, there will be Fitnah
(wars, battles, polytheism, etc.)
on the earth, and a great mischief and corruption.”
The dowry: Allah says:
This
means: “And give to the women (whom you marry) their Mahr (obligatory
bridal money given by the husband to his wife at the time of marriage) with
a good heart. (4, An-Nisa’: 4) Allah says:
This
means: “And if you divorce them before you have touched (had a sexual
relation with) them, and you have appointed unto them the Mahr (bridal-money
given by the husbands to his wife at the time of marriage), then pay half of
that (Mahr).” (2, Al-Baqarah: 237)
The Prophet (peace be
upon him) said:
“Go and search for
something even if it were an iron ring.”
Ibn
`Abbas narrated:
“When
`Ali
married Fatimah, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said to him: Give her
something. He said: I have nothing with me. He said: Where is your Hutamiyyah
(coat of mail).”
He (peace be upon him)
also said:
“The
best of marriages is the easiest.”
(Reported
by Abu Dawud)
The
Sunnah rituals of marriage:
The Messenger of Allah
(peace be upon him) said:
“Every
matter of significance that does not begin with the praise of Allah, remains
defective.” (Reported by Abu Dawud)
He (peace be upon him)
also said:
“Give a wedding
banquet even if with one sheep.”
He (peace be upon him)
also said:
“He
who is invited to a wedding feast or like it, he should accept it.”
(Reported by Muslim)
He (peace be upon him)
also said:
“The
worst food is that served at a wedding feast, in which those excluded who
would like to come to it and to which those invited refuse to come.”
(Reported by Muslim) The Prophet (SAWS) said, "The difference between the lawful and the unlawful is the tambourine (beat of the duff) and the voice (of singing) in the wedding." [At-Tirmidhi]
Abu Hurayrah narrated
that:
(Reported by At-Tirmidhi)
Good manners of marriage:
The
invocation of the husband on coition:
“O Allah,
I ask You
for the good in her, and in the disposition You have
given her; I take refuge in You from the evil in her, and in the disposition
You have given her.”
(Reported
by Abu Dawud)
On
having sexual relationship:
Allah’s Messenger
(peace be upon him) said:
“If anyone intends
to have sexual intercourse with his wife, he should say: In the Name of
Allah. O Allah! save us from Satan and keep the devil away from what You
have bestowed upon us. Then, if Allah has ordained a child for them, the
devil will never harm him.”
“The
most evil of the people to Allah on the Day of Resurrection will be the man
who has sexual intercourse with his wife and then publicizes her secret.” (Reported by
Muslim)
Conditions
of the wife:
The Prophet (peace be
upon him) said:
“From among all the conditions
which you have to fulfill, the conditions which make it legal for you to
have sexual relations (i.e.
the marriage contract) have
the greatest right to be fulfilled.”
He (peace be upon him)
also said:
“No
woman may ask the divorce of her fellow Muslim sister in order to deprive
her of what belongs to her.”
The
choice to annul marriage: `Umar Ibn Al-Khattab said: “If a man deceived a
woman (and married her), she must have the dowry for having sexual relations
with (this man) and the (due) dowry of a man is paid to him by the one who
deceived him.”
(Reported by Malik)
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