Islamic marital jurisprudence

In Islamic law (sharia), marriage () is a legal and social contract between a man and a woman. In Islam, it is generally recommended that adherents marry, numerous hadiths support marriage, though the recommendation varies depending on individual circumstances. Islamic law (sharia) may require, encourage, discourage or forbid

a Muslim to marry.

A nikāḥ marriage has a number of requirements and restrictions under shariah. but may be cousins, including first cousins;

Rulings on marriage

Many Muslim activists urge Muslims to marry.

"(Oh Muslims!) Marry, then, I will be proud of being the largest in number among nations, and do not follow the monastic life of Christians".
Ibn Masoud may Allaah be pleased with him said: "If I knew that I will die on the tenth day of the last ten days of my life and I can afford marriage, I will marry since I fear temptation".

Rulings

According to scholars such as Sheikh Sayyed Sabiq and Al-Qurtubi (1214–1273) and according to the consensus of scholars (according to Islamweb), Similarly the woman must not have defects such as "narrowness or blockage of her vagina, ... that hinders penile insertion", or similar problems.

Islamic marriage ceremony

Witnesses

In Sunni Islam two witnesses from both sides are necessary for the contract to be valid.

According to Hanafi Fiqh by DarulUloomTT.net, there must be two male witnesses or one male and two females; they must be Muslims who have reached the age of puberty and are of sound mind.

According to Hanafi school of fiqh of Mufti Ebrahim Desai of Askimam.org, the witnesses must be "two trustworthy and pious male Muslims" who are not the brides ascendants, (such as father, grandfather) or descendants (e.g. son, grandson, etc.).

In Shia Islam (aka Imamiyyah Islam), according to Muhammad Juwwad Mughniyyah, witnesses to a marriage are not wajib (required) but only mustahabb (recommended).

Nikah/Islamic marriage contract

If the conditions are met and a and contract are agreed upon, an Islamic marriage ceremony, or wedding, can take place.

A Muslim marriage is a simple, legal agreement in which either partner is free to include conditions, violation of which is legal grounds for the partner who included the stipulation to seek divorce. The agreement is affirmed both verbally and in signature.

The marriage should have an offer or proposal (ijab) from the wali of the bride (or the person who is acting in his place), made to the groom saying in effect, "I marry [name of bride] to you". (though only an indication of agreement is necessary according to fiqh, and not these particular words). Following the verbal aspect of nikah the marriage contract is signed. From this point on, the couple are a married couple.

A Shia nikah ceremony requires the recitation of the nikah kalma and specific Quranic verses, which is optional in Sunni ceremonies; consequently, Shia ceremonies often last longer than Sunni ones. A Shia nikah ceremony requires the pair to conduct a ghusl bath, according to a specific method. Sunni do not require this at a nikah ceremony.

Walima

The walima is a dinner given by the groom's side of the family to celebrate the welcoming of the bride to the family. It is a strong sunnah (the repetition of an action of Muhammad) and it is recommended to be held the earliest possible day after the nikah.

It is considered makruh (disliked) to display the bride on a stage during the walima; it is preferred that the couple be seated together more discreetly. The Walima may include speeches, sermons, prayers, and poetry. Scholars permit, and even recommend, the playing of the Daf drum during the Walima whereas music is otherwise prohibited.

Requirements and regulations for marriage

Arranged and forced marriages and wali involvement

Traditionally in the Muslim world, marriages were arranged by families, and brides were represented by a wali (usually the brides father).

An engagement may be arranged between families for their children, but the Hanafi and Hanbali schools of jurisprudence require the prospective bride's consent if she has reached the age of puberty. They believe a legal marriage includes the requirement that both the bride and groom, give their legal consent.

<blockquote></blockquote>As the Quran, hadith and scholar Ibn Taymiyyah state:

Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet said: "A non-virgin woman may not be married without her command, and a virgin may not be married without her permission; and it is permission enough for her to remain silent (because of her natural shyness)" [Al-Bukhari:6455, Muslim & others]
Aisha reported that she once asked the Prophet: "In the case of a young girl whose parents marry her off, should her permission be sought or not?" He replied: "Yes, she must give her permission." She then said: "But a virgin would be shy, O Messenger of Allaah!" He replied: "Her silence is [considered as] her permission". [Al-Bukhari, Muslim, & others] Shafi'i recommends strongly that daughters who are no longer minors be consulted before being married to someone.

Wali

A wali is a "custodian", "protector" or guardian. The () is a wali of the bride with "full power to endorse a marriage on behalf of everyone under his care."

In most schools of Islamic law, only the father or the paternal grandfather of the bride can be . However, in the absence of these, other male relatives such as the bride's brother, uncle, or even a male guardian appointed by a shariah court or the imam of a mosque may act as the walī, depending on the circumstances.

The importance of the wali and whether one is needed to approve the marriage is debated between the different schools of thought, and may depend on whether the bride is virgin and/or a minor.

One sahih hadith (there are also similar hadith) states:

"Any woman who marries without the permission of her wali, her marriage is invalid, her marriage is invalid, her marriage is invalid."

While another asserts

"'The woman has a right over herself concerning marriage, and her guardian has a right over her concerning marriage; but her right takes precedence over his. If he wishes to marry her to someone of a proper background, and she refuses, then she cannot be compelled; while if she wishes to marry someone who has a proper background, and her guardian refuses, he will be compelled to submit to her wishes; and if he persists in his refusal, the qadi is authorised to give her away in marriage in his stead.'"

The role of the wali in approving the marriage is particularly significant for women who have not previously been married;

their permission being compulsory for Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali schools in Sunni Islam, strongly recommended in Hanafi,

To the Hanbali, Shafi'i, and Maliki Sunni schools, a is required for a virginal woman to marry. In these schools, if a woman is divorced or widowed, she becomes her own guardian and does not need a to sign a marriage contract. However, according to one source, divorced or widowed women still needs a wali's permission to marry.

To Shia it may vary according to the religious scholar.

Two sources (central-mosque.com and Hassan Al-Yousef), advises Muslim women who believe that their wali is being unreasonable in preventing them from marrying the man they wish to marry to "refer the matter to Islamic Scholars or Islamic Shariah councils and let a Mufti or a Scholar from a Shariah council". While the prospective groom is not allowed to be alone with the prospective bride before marriage, he is allowed to see her. According to Islamweb, it is permissible for "a man to look at a woman whom he wants to marry". What they are allowed to look at is limited to her hands and face, according to most Islamic scholars, (according to Islamweb). The Hanbali school is more permissive, allowing the groom to look at "six parts of her body: the head, the neck, the face, the arms, the feet and the legs".

In addition kissing is prohibited before the nikah — notwithstanding its prominent place in non-Muslim marriages — according to scholars such as Muhammad Al-Munajjid, Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips, (Philips says it is not permissible in public even after the nikah, as Muslim couples are expected to exercise hayaa'<nowiki/> (modesty/shyness) when in public; Mangera says that "expression of this type of interaction in public can lead to an unrestricted, carefree and immoral atmosphere which Islam forbids.")

At least according to fatwa given in Hanafi and Hanbali fiqh, the standard practice is for the mahr to be paid at the time of the nikah, but if the bride and groom agree, payment of the mahr may be postponed to a future date.

One basis for determining the amount of the mahr is how much her older sisters (if she has any) were given at the time of their marriage.

Mahr Muajjal — is given to the wife immediately after the nikah (marriage contract) is completed.
Mahr Muakkhar — is given later, usually at the time of divorce, or the death of the husband.
Al-Mahr al-Musamma — is a mahr whose amount agreed upon by the couple and specified by them in the contract.
Al-Mahr al Mithli — is a mahr whose amount is set according to the "assets" of a woman, which are "generally thought to include things like the number and nature of her family, her ethnic background (some ethnic backgrounds are more desirable than others), beauty and intelligence". What is "typically" received by similar brides.

Forbidding of misrepresentation

When the prospective husband misrepresents his suitability for marriage to his fiancée or her wali — for example in his lineage or physical status — then the bride or her wali have the right to nullify the nikah contract.

Forbidding of marriage to mahram

A verse in surah An-Nisa in the Quran gives a list of relatives that Muslims are forbidden to marry, (see below) — a class of people known as Mahram (family members with whom marriage is permanently unlawful):

Not forbidden are cousins, including first cousins, who though genetically close are not mahram.

Others forbidden

Also forbidden to marry is anyone of the same sex, anyone who has had the same wetnurse feed them, and polytheists (mushrikun).

Interfaith marriage

Islamic law "generally" forbids Muslim women from marrying non-Muslim men, but does allow Muslim men to marry Christian or Jewish women "under specific conditions".

The Qur'an explicitly allows Muslim men to marry chaste women of "the People of the Book", (i.e. Jews, Christians and Sabians),

Do not marry polytheistic women until they believe; for a believing slave-woman is better than a free polytheist, even though she may look pleasant to you. And do not marry your women to polytheistic men until they believe, for a believing slave-man is better than a free polytheist, even though he may look pleasant to you. They invite ˹you˺ to the Fire while Allah invites ˹you˺ to Paradise and forgiveness by His grace. He makes His revelations clear to the people so perhaps they will be mindful. (Quran 2:221)
...the food of the People of the Book is permissible for you and yours is permissible for them. And ˹permissible for you in marriage˺ are chaste believing women as well as chaste women of those given the Scripture before you...(Quran 5:5)

... and does not mention the gender inverse. Historically, in Islamic culture and traditional Islamic law, interfaith marriages have generally been recognized between those two groups (Muslim males and people-of-the-book females), and not the reverse genders.

However, in the 21st century marriages between Muslim women and non-Muslim men have become "more and more" frequent, meeting with "varying degrees" of acceptance. and are criticized for contravening the traditional Sunni understanding of ijma.

The Hanbali and Shaafi'i schools of jurisprudence emphasize the part of the verse that states "... if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly (with multiple wives), then only one ...", and "recommend" that a Muslim male to have only one wife, to ensure complete equality among multiple wives. Others, such as Saudi-educated preacher Bilal Philips and Jamila Jones, inveigh against banning or discouraging polygyny based on "restrictive impractical" Western norms, claiming that "institutional polygyny is vehemently opposed by male-dominated Western society because it would force men to fidelity", Philips and Jones alleging that infidelity is the norm in Western society.

Women are not allowed to have more than one husband. One of the main reasons for this would be the potential questioning of paternal lineage.

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Genital cutting and circumcision

Circumcision has been called one of the "five practices" connected to the Fitrah (innate nature in Islam). In the Shafi'i school of fiqh, circumcision is mandatory (wajib) and in the other three madhab (Hanafi, Maliki, and Hanbali schools) it is recommended (mustahabb). Scholar Muhammad Munajjid emphatically denies that the practice is cultural, stating that "not a single Muslim scholar – as far as we know – has said that circumcision is not prescribed" by Islamic law, and quotes fatwa from Dar al-Ifta' al-Misriyyah and al-Azhar.

In early Islamic era, it was considered by some Arab tribes to be "an indispensable prerequisite for marriage" according to author Raphael Patai. In the largest Arab country, Egypt, over 80% of women have undergone circumcision. In Somalia and Djibouti over 95% have.

Female circumcision is not an exclusively Islamic practice, was a pre-Islamic practice and is found in non-Islamic majority African countries, but is now highly controversial (referred to female genital mutilation) and condemned by World Health Organization, for the pain, disfigurement and adverse health effects involved. The rationale for female circumcision is that it either prevents the girl from wanting to engage in illicit premarital sex (in the case of clitoridectomy), or makes it altogether impossible for her (if infibulation is performed), until her vulva is again cut or forced open.

Concerning practices originated from European tradition such as Wedding rings and bridal gowns, a fatwa by Islamweb discourages Muslims from wearing wedding or engagement rings as it constitutes "a form of imitation of non-Muslims". It also points to hadith forbidding men from wearing any gold ornaments including wedding or engagement rings. A fatwa by Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid also forbids gold on men and states that the belief that rings can "create strong bonds" between a married couple", is a form of shirk, so that it "is not permissible to wear a wedding ring under any circumstances.". A fatwa per Hanafi Fiqh by Mufti Faizal Riza on IslamQA.org finds both wedding rings and white wedding dresses to be "peculiar ... customs of the kuffar", that are "not permissible" for Muslims.

Types of marriage

Nikāḥ

thumb|A Muslim bride signing the nikkah nama or [[marriage certificate, 2006, Pakistan.]]

The Nikāḥ (Arabic: نكاح, literally, "to collect and bind together") is the first—and most common—form of marriage for Muslims. It is described in the Qur'an in Surah 4 verse 4, (and above).

Among its regulations are:

While intended to be a permanent state, it can be terminated (i.e. divorce may proceed) by the husband engaging in the Talaq process or the wife seeking a Khula.
The couple inherit from each other.
A legal contract is signed when entering the marriage. However the contract may be oral, not written, the standard practice amongst illiterate Muslims.
If there is a written contract the couple should still also agree to marriage orally. The difference between this and Nikāḥ mut'ah is that mut'ah has the condition of a definite time period and a separation date prior to a marriage contract. Sunni Muslim men may in theory engage in a similar practice by marrying a woman with the intention of getting divorced after a period of time, but according to Shaykh Yūsuf Badāt of Hanafi Fiqh Mathabah.org, "the overwhelming number of Sunni jurists from all persuasions" consider such a marriage as "invalid and prohibited."

Nikāḥ 'urfī

Nikāḥ 'urfī is a "customary" marriage contract that commonly requires a wali (Islamic legal guardian) and witnesses but does not have official registration with state authorities. Couples repeat the words, "We got married" and pledge commitment, although there are many other informal ways in which people marry <nowiki>'</nowiki>urfi. Usually a paper, stating that the two are married, is written and at least two witnesses sign it, although others may record their commitment on a cassette tape and use other forms of documentation.

A fatwa by one Shaykh Bassem Itani states that urfi marriages are valid if they have all the crucial elements of a conventional nikbah (presence of the guardian/wali, witnesses, mahr, and mutual acceptance of marriage contract from both the groom and the bride or her guardian) except official registration. However, what some call urfi exclude witnesses, and any nikbah lacking these is not Islamically valid.

Nikāḥ mut'ah

Nikah mut'ah , literally "pleasure marriage"; temporary marriage or sigheh (, called muta'a in Iraq and sigheh in Iran) is a private and verbal temporary marriage contract that is practiced in Twelver Shia Islam in which the duration of the marriage and the mahr must be specified and agreed upon in advance. It is a private contract made in a verbal or written format. A declaration of the intent to marry and an acceptance of the terms are required as in other forms of marriage in Islam.

According to Shia Muslims, Muhammad sanctioned nikah mut'ah. Some Sunni and Western writers have argued that mut'ah approximates prostitution in a culture where prostitution is otherwise forbidden.

Some sources say the nikah mut'ah has no prescribed minimum or maximum duration, but others, such as The Oxford Dictionary of Islam, indicate the minimum duration of the marriage is debatable and durations of at least three days, three months or one year have been suggested.

Proxy marriages

Nikah is permitted by proxy (i.e. via the telephone or video link), simply by both parties (or representatives on their behalf) exchanging declarations. This has caused issues in Western countries, such as the United Kingdom, which do not view proxy marriages as legitimate. According to Hanafi Mufti Ebrahim Desai, "the procedure of marriage via the internet is same as marriage by proxy where one of the partners (boy or girl) propose to marry the other." According to Muhammad al-Munajjid, if there is a proxy wali, he should explain that he is a proxy when giving the bride to the groom, saying, "I give to you in marriage the daughter of So-and-so, who appointed me as his proxy, and she is So-and-so the daughter of So-and-so" or, "I give to you in marriage as a proxy the daughter of So-and-so the son of So-and-so."

Nikah halala

Nikah halala also known as tahleel marriage, is a practice in which a woman, after being divorced by her husband by triple talaq (the verbal divorce of traditional Islam), marries another man, consummates the marriage, and gets divorced again in order to be able to remarry her former husband—Islamic law requiring her to has been married to and divorced from another man before remarrying.

However, this form of marriage is haram (forbidden) according to Islamic law based on hadith of Muhammad. Nikah halala is practiced by a small minority of Muslims, mainly in countries that recognise the triple talaq.

Forbidden historical marriages

In addition to the types of marriages mentioned above that are forbidden in Islam—marriage to close relatives (mahram) (Q.4:23), those made "foster relatives" by virtue of their having the same wet nurse, those of the same sex—there are also kinds of marriages that were practiced historically (though perhaps not much of an issue today) that are forbidden either in the Quran (Levirate marriage) or hadith (Nikāḥ Ijtimaa).

Levirate marriage

In certain sections of the Jahiliyyah Arab tradition, the son could inherit his deceased father's other wives (i.e. not his own mother) as a wife. The Quran prohibited this practice. Marriage between people related in some way is subject to prohibitions based on three kinds of relationships.

Nikāḥ Ijtimaa

Nikah ijtimaa, or combined marriage, is a form of marriage practiced in pre-Islamic Arabia, in which multiple men would have intercourse with a woman, and if she bore a child, she would choose one of the men to be the father of the child. This form of marriage was outlawed by Islam, and traditional jurisprudence requires that any man and woman be married prior to sexual intercourse.

Nikāḥ Shighār

Nikāḥ Shighā is marriage (نکاح شغار) in which two men would exchange their daughters, sisters or other close women for marriage without paying mahr. It was prohibited by Muhammad.

Gender roles

The Qur'an asserts that there are innate differences between women and men, and therefore Islam gives different rights and duties to husband and wife.

Some rights which the husband owes to his wife are:

Payment of dowry
Financial Support
Kind and proper treatment
Privacy
Equitable treatment if there is more than one wife
Defense of her honor
In another fatwa, Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid (of the Hanbali school) gives as an explanation for why the wife must obey her husband that the husband "is more perfect in rational thinking than her in most cases ... just as women are more able than men to take care of the children and the household affairs. Also, men are obliged to spend on their wives; the wife does not have to work or earn a living".
According to Dr. Salah Sultan, (President of the American Center for Islamic Research in Columbus, Ohio, a member of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, and a "senior member" of the international Muslim Brotherhood), "The man should be obeyed as long as there is no disobedience to Allah".
The Jordanian and Egyptian Dar-al-Ifta (Hanafi school) give slightly more qualified fatwas, stating the wife must obey, "in whatever preserves the stability of their new family and marital life." (Jordanian) or "according to what is equitable" (Egyptian).
Popular Muslim convert woman author Ruqayyah Waris Maqsood qualifies the necessity of obedience to husbands, saying that the man must "show the protection, the maintenance, and the strength" in order to receive a wife's "obedience and the co-operation".

Physical discipline of wives/Darb

Concerning the husband's rights over his wife, Quranic verse 4:34 includes the section

The word translated as "discipline them" -- aḍarb wahunna () -- has been translated as

"discipline them ˹gently˺" (Dr. Mustafa Khattab, The Clear Quran),
"scourge them" (Marmaduke Pickthall),
"strike them" (quranwbw)

and in other ways.

The verse has been called "the so-called 'Wife Beating Verse'", and a number of sources have stated that it does not really call for beating/striking/scourging wives. Shaykh Yusuf Badat in a fatwa writes

In analyzing the verse, The Muslim Vibe states that the stirking of the wife is actually "a non-violent, symbolic gesture". Bilal Philips states that any beating of a wife "must be light" (lashing is forbidden), and quotes a hadith forbidding men from hitting their wife "in her face".

Living with inlaws

The wife has the right to live in separate accommodation with her husband and children, if she does not want to share it with anyone like her in-law or relatives. This is the view of most of the Hanafi, Shaafa'i and Hanbali scholars of fiqh. She also has the right to refuse to live with her husband's father, mother and siblings.

Narrated Abdullah bin Umar: That he heard Allah's Apostle saying, <br>

This indicates that a wife is responsible for the house of her husband. Also that a man should be the guardian of his family, i.e., after his marriage he moves out of his father's house, and runs his own family affairs and is guardian of his family. In a joint family, typically the head is either the father of the husband, or mother of the husband. This also indicates that a husband should look after his parents' house, as "a man is a guardian of his father's property". So the wife should not object to her husband when he is looking after affairs of his parents.

Sexuality

Sexuality in Islam is largely described by the Qur'an, Islamic tradition, and religious leaders both past and present as being confined to marital relationships between men and women, and between slave owners and enslaved females. While most traditions discourage celibacy, all encourage strict chastity and modesty (see haya) with regards to any relationships across gender lines, holding forth that intimacy as perceived within Islam (encompassing a swath of life more broad than strictly sex) is to be reserved for marriage. As the sahih hadith of Al-Bukhari narrated by Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud states:

We were with the Prophet while we were young and had no wealth whatever. So Allah's Apostle said, "O young people! Whoever among you can marry, should marry, because it helps him lower his gaze and guard his modesty (i.e., his private parts from committing illegal sexual intercourse etc.), and whoever is not able to marry, should fast, as fasting diminishes his sexual desire."

While adulterous relationships are strictly forbidden, permissible sexual relationships within marriage are described in Islamic sources as a source of rewards from God, while satisfying sexual needs through illicit means are punishment. Not all marital sex is permitted; intercourse during daytime fasting (see sawm) and menstruation), and anal sex are forbidden.

Divorce

Divorce according to Islamic law has a variety of forms, the main categories of Islamic customary law are talaq (repudiation), khulʿ (mutual divorce) and faskh (dissolution of marriage before the Religious Court). Historically, the official rules of divorce differed depending on the legal school, and sometimes diverged from legal theory. In modern times in Muslim-majority states, personal status (family) laws have been codified and control over the norms of divorce has shifted from traditional jurists to the state, but have generally remained "within the orbit of Islamic law".

Iddah

A woman cannot marry for a certain period after a divorce or the death of her husband. This period is known as iddah (or iddat), which means "to count" — i.e. to count the monthly purifications after menstruation. Another reason is to observe mourning and express sorrow In if the husband has died.

A divorcée as well as a widow after menopause has the iddah of 3 months and 10 days. (Hanafi)
There are other rules for if the woman is bearing twins, or if the husband dies while the wife is observing the 'iddah due to a divorce, and other circumstances.

Notes

References

Sources and further reading

External links

Marriage in Islamic Law
E-Book: Marriage A Form of Ibada
E-Book: Wedding Customs and Non-Islamic Traditions
Rights of husband and wife, and issues with joint family system
The Etiquettes of Muslim Marriage
Islamic Philosophy of Marriage
VIDEO: British Man and French Woman talk about Becoming Muslims and how they got married.
VIDEO: A French Muslim Convert Talks about Hijab and Marriage
crescentlife.com's "Fundamentals of a happy marriage", a Muslim view of marriage structured around "21 F's", words beginning in F such as Faith, Forgiving, Forget, Forbearance, and so on. Similar content exists in multiple other sources, credited to various authors or uncredited.
Why Muslim Singles Cannot Get Married
The Wali in Islam:1,2,3,4,5
Islam Marriages and Qur'an Teachings
QuranicPath | Marriage of Believers