An Islamic marriage contract is considered an integral part of an Islamic marriage, and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the husband and wife or other parties involved in marriage proceedings under Sharia. Whether it is considered a formal, binding contract depends on the jurisdiction. Islamic faith marriage contracts are not valid in English law, [1] nor American Law. Because of this, some Islamic Marriage Officiants will only officiate a marriage after the couple had been legally married in court.
In Sunni Islam, a marriage contract must have at least two witnesses. Proper witnessing is critical to the validation of the marriage, also acting as a protection against suspicions of adulterous relationships.
In Shia Islam, witnesses to a marriage are not necessary. [2] It is also believed that temporary marriage, or Nikah Mut'ah (a type of contract which had more relaxed requirements) was prohibited in Sunni Islam, the necessity of witnessing was introduced by Sunni caliphs, specifically Umar, to ensure that no couples engaged in secret union.
Marriages are usually not held in mosques, (depending on the country and culture of both where the marriage happens and the parties involved) because typically men and women are separated during the ceremony and reception. In Sunni Islam, there is no official clergy, so any Muslim who understands the Islamic tradition can be the official for the wedding. However, if a Muslim wedding is held in a mosque, then a marriage officiant, known as qadi , qazi or madhun (Arabic : مأذون), may preside over the wedding. [3]
The rights of women proceeding the Advent of Islam [4] as changed drastically to where they stand in society in the twenty first century. Prior to the Advent of Islam, men were allowed to marry or divorce whenever they pleased leading to a number of problems within the society.
The Quran states that you should love your husband or wife, however, divorce is not forbidden. Men remain more able to divorce women than women are to divorce men, as husbands can unilaterally divorce wives, while the only unilateral route wives can take is through taking a case to court for annulment. The lifestyles men and women go through following a divorce are very different, women must participate in a period of abstinence and remain single for a period of time. This period of abstinence and being single allows for the father, if the wife was pregnant before the divorce, to know if the unborn child belongs to them or not. [5]
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Among the stipulations that can be included in the marriage contract include giving up, or demanding, certain responsibilities. [6] The contract may also be used to regulate the couple's physical relationship, if needed.[ citation needed ]
The marriage contract can also specify where the couple will live, whether or not the first wife will allow the husband to take a second wife without her consent. The wife has the right to initiate divorce, it is called khula. She either gives back the dowry (mahr) or does not, depending on the reason for divorce. The man has the right to divorce. The marriage contract somewhat resembles the marriage settlements once negotiated for upper-class Western brides, but can extend to non-financial matters usually ignored by marriage settlements or pre-nuptial agreements.
One important purpose of the contract is to make sexual intercourse legal. This is supported by various Hadiths and quotations:
Sahih Bukhari, Book 62, #81: [7] [8]
Al-Mughni (by Ibn Qudaamah), Kitab al Nikah: [9]
Cited in (Al Aqad, 2014) the common problem of translation of marriage contracts is due to the varieties of word synonyms in the legal Arabic system which have no equivalence in the English system in terms of marriage contracts, such as: مهر, شبكه, صداق - Mahr, Shabkah, Sadaq- (dowry), whereas, all of these examples attributed and affected by the culture and tradition of the Arabic language. [10]
Interfaith marriage has been a growing concept in the past few years however according to the Quran, Muslim women should only marry Muslim men and without doing so can lead to problems within and outside of the families. Though Muslim men are technically permitted to wed Muslim, Christian, Jewish (and according to a minority view Zoroastrian women), AKA the Ahl-al-Kitab (People of the Book), it is heavily discouraged to the point that some scholars (mainly of the Hanbali School of Fiqh) have ruled that this permission applies only in Dar-ul-Islam (a community where Islam is dominant and Islamic values are present). Even in these marriages, there are several restrictions (such as the children being brought up Muslim), and often makes such a marriage impractical.[ citation needed ]
One main problem with interfaith marriage as seen in the Islamic community is the fear that one might abandon their faith or their children will not grow up in it. [11] Another issue that can arise is the conflict directly between the two married individuals if their religious traditions get in the way of the other, leading to a debate of which religion should be the more prominent one in the relationship.
In Islam, a mahr is the bride wealth obligation, in the form of money, possessions or teaching of verses from the Quran by the groom, to the bride in connection with an Islamic wedding. While the mahr is often money, it can also be anything agreed upon by the bride such as jewelry, home goods, furniture, a dwelling or some land. Mahr is typically specified in the marriage contract signed upon marriage.
Safiyya bint Huyayy was a Jewish woman from the Banu Nadir tribe. After the Battle of Khaybar in 628, she was widowed and taken captive by the early Muslims and subsequently became Muhammad's tenth wife. Like all other women who were married to Muhammad, Safiyya was known to Muslims as a "Mother of the Believers". Their marriage produced no children and ended with Muhammad's death in Medina in 632.
In Islamic law (sharia), marriage is a legal and social contract between two individuals. Marriage is an act of Islam and is strongly recommended. Polygyny is permitted in Islam under some conditions, but polyandry is forbidden.
In Islam, nikah is a contract exclusively between a man and woman. Both the groom and the bride are to consent to the marriage of their own free wills. A formal, binding contract – verbal or on paper – is considered integral to a religiously valid Islamic marriage, and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom and bride. Divorce in Islam can take a variety of forms, some executed by a husband personally and some executed by a religious court on behalf of a plaintiff wife who is successful in her legal divorce petition for valid cause. Islamic marital jurisprudence allows Muslim men to be married to multiple women.
Sexuality in Islam contains a wide range of views and laws, which are largely predicated on the Quran, and the sayings attributed to Muhammad (hadith) and the rulings of religious leaders (fatwa) confining sexual activity to marital relationships between men and women. Sexual jurisprudence and marital jurisprudence are the codifications of Islamic scholarly perspectives and rulings on sexuality, which both in turn also contain components of Islamic family jurisprudence, Islamic marital jurisprudence, hygienical, criminal and bioethical jurisprudence.
Nikah halala, also known as tahleel marriage, is a practice in which a woman, after being divorced by her husband by triple talaq, marries another man, consummates the marriage, and gets divorced again in order to be able to remarry her former husband. Nikah means marriage and halala means to make something halal, or permissible. This form of marriage is haram (forbidden) according to the hadith of Islamic prophet Muhammad. Nikah halala is practiced by a small minority of Muslims, mainly in countries that recognise the triple talaq.
Divorce according to Islamic law can occur in a variety of forms, some initiated by a husband and some by a wife. The main categories of Islamic customary law are talaq, khulʿ and faskh. Historically, the rules of divorce were governed by sharia, as interpreted by traditional Islamic jurisprudence, though they differed depending on the legal school, and historical practices sometimes diverged from legal theory.
Nikah 'urfi is a "customary [marriage contract] that commonly requires a walī (guardian) and witnesses but not to be officially registered with state authorities. Couples repeat the words, "We got married" and pledge commitment, although there are many other informal ways in which people marry '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. Most Arab countries do not recognize 'urfi marriages and do not allow partners to get a 'legal' divorce since the government does not recognize the legality of the marriage in the first place. Under the new personal status law (Egypt) passed on January 29, 2000 however, divorces from 'Urfi marriages are now recognized. While the new Egyptian law recognizes the woman's right to seek divorce from an 'Urfi marriage, the law however does not allow for claims for alimony and child support. Unlike regular marriages, most 'urfi contracts are not publicised, are short-term and do not require men to provide maintenance for the women. Sometimes these relationships are a way for people to have sexual relations within what is perceived to be a religiously licit framework. In many instances, 'urfi marriages are contracted without the permission of the woman's male guardian (Wali) and the relationship is often kept secret from family members.
The Jaʿfarī school, also known as the Jafarite school, Jaʿfarī fiqh or Ja'fari jurisprudence, is a prominent school of jurisprudence (fiqh) within Twelver and Ismaili Shia Islam, named after the sixth Imam, Ja'far al-Sadiq. In Iran, Jaʽfari jurisprudence is enshrined in the constitution, shaping various aspects of governance, legislation, and judiciary in the country.
A famous recorded oral tradition among Muslims is about comment made by Imran ibn Husain, one of the companions of Muhammad and a Narrator of hadith. The comment was regarding the prohibition of Mut'ah, a word with several meanings. It is used in both Nikah mut'ah and Mut'ah of Hajj.
Khulʿ, also called khula, is a procedure based on traditional jurisprudence, that allows a Muslim woman to initiate a divorce by returning the mahr and everything she received from him during their life together, or without returning anything, as agreed by the spouses or judge's decree, depending on the circumstances.
Fatima bint Muhammad, commonly known as Fatima al-Zahra', was the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his wife Khadija. Fatima's husband was Ali, the fourth of the Rashidun Caliphs and the first Shia Imam. Fatima's sons were Hasan and Husayn, the second and third Shia Imams, respectively. Fatima has been compared to Mary, mother of Jesus, especially in Shia Islam. Muhammad is said to have regarded her as the best of women and the dearest person to him. She is often viewed as an ultimate archetype for Muslim women and an example of compassion, generosity, and enduring suffering. It is through Fatima that Muhammad's family line has survived to this date. Her name and her epithets remain popular choices for Muslim girls.
The Shi'a view of Aisha is generally unfavourable. This is primarily due to what they see as her contempt for the Ahl al-Bayt and her actions in the First Fitna of the time. Her participation in the Battle of the Camel is widely considered her most significant sign of such contempt. Shi'a also consider Aisha to be a controversial figure because of her political involvement during her lifetime. Aisha came from a political family lineage, as she was the daughter of Abu Bakr, the first caliph. Aisha also played an active role in Muhammad's political life; she was known to accompany him to wars, where she learned military skills, such as initiating pre-war negotiations between combatants, conducting battles, and ending wars.
Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion teaching that there is only one God (Allah) and that Muhammad is His last Messenger.
In pre-Islamic Arabia, a variety of different marriage practices existed. The most common and recognized types of marriage at this time consisted of: marriage by agreement, marriage by capture, marriage by mahr, marriage by inheritance and Mutah or temporary marriage.
Muslim marriage and Islamic wedding customs are traditions and practices that relate to wedding ceremonies and marriage rituals prevailing within the Muslim world. Although Islamic marriage customs and relations vary depending on country of origin and government regulations, both Muslim men and women from around the world are guided by Islamic laws and practices specified in the Quran. Islamic marital jurisprudence allows Muslim men to be married to multiple women.
Criticism of Twelver Shia Islam dates from the initial ideological rift among early Muslims that led to the two primary denominations of Islam, the Sunnis and the Shias. The question of succession to Muhammad in Islam, the nature of the Imamate, the status of the twelfth Shia Imam, and other areas in which Shia Islam differs from Sunni Islam have been criticized by Sunni scholars, even though there is no disagreement between the two sects regarding the centrality of the Quran, Muhammad, and many other doctrinal, theological and ritual matters. Shia commentators such as Musa al-Musawi and Ali Shariati have themselves, in their attempts to reform the faith, criticized practices and beliefs which have become prevalent in the Twelver Shia community.
Nikah mut'ah Arabic: نكاح المتعة, romanized: nikāḥ al-mutʿah, "pleasure marriage"; temporary marriage or Sigheh 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. The Zaidi Shia reject Mutah marriage.
A misyar marriage is a type of marriage contract allowed by some Sunni Muslims. The husband and wife thus joined are able to renounce some marital rights such as living together, the wife's rights to housing and maintenance money (nafaqa), and the husband's right to home-keeping and access. The practice is often used in some Islamic countries to give a legal recognition to behavior that might otherwise be considered adulterous via temporary, contractual marriages.
Islamic family jurisprudence or Islamic family law or Muslim Family Law is the fiqh of laws and regulations related to maintaining of Muslim family, which are taken from Quran, hadith, fatwas of Muslim jurists and ijma of the Muslims. It contains pubertal, marital, sexual, child upbringing, adoption and fostering, inheritance, criminal and other related subjects. The subject mainly discusses on foster relationship, marriage, divorce, Ila, li'an, Raj'ah, Khul', Zihar, Iddah, custody and maintenance of children etc. From the political aspects, Muslim family law is a part of almost every national constitution of the world regarding religious (Muslim) laws, especially of the Muslim-majority countries.