Marriage in Islam
A formal, binding contract – verbal or on paper[1] – is considered integral to a religiously valid Islamic marriage, and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom and bride.
Islamic marital jurisprudence allows Muslim men to be married to multiple women (a practice known as polygyny).
The marriage contract is known by different names: Literary Arabic: عقد القران ʿaqd al-qirān, "matrimony contract"; Urdu: نکاح نامہ / ALA-LC: Nikāḥ-nāmah; Bengali: আকদ, romanized: akd; Persian: ازدواج ezdevāj "marriage" and سند ازدواج or عقدنامه (sǎnǎde ezdevāj, aqd nāmeh) for the certificate.
The marriage celebration may be called ʿurs / zawāj (Arabic: زواج / عرس), ezdewaj/arusi (Persian), shaadi (Urdu), biye/biya (Bengali) or düğün (Turkish).
[16][additional citation(s) needed] However, in the transitional age from non-Islamic to Islamic society, elite women could divorce and remarry without stigma.
[17] Under the Arabian Jahiliyyah law, Islamic sources allege that no limitations were set on men's rights to marry or to obtain a divorce.
'For example, the dowry, previously regarded as a bride-price paid to the father, became a nuptial gift retained by the wife as part of her personal property'.
The essential elements of the marriage contract were now an offer by the man, an acceptance by the woman, and the performance of such conditions as the payment of dowry.
[22][23] A BBC page for GCSE WJEC (secondary education) religious studies states, "For Muslims, marriage was created by Allah to provide a foundation for family life and the whole of society.
[27] If the conditions are met and a mahr and contract are agreed upon, an Islamic marriage ceremony, or wedding, can take place.
The Islamic marriage is then declared publicly, in iʿlān (Arabic: إِعْلَان), by a responsible person after delivering a sermon to counsel and guide the couple.
The bridegroom can deliver the sermon himself in the presence of representatives of both sides if he is religiously educated, as the story goes about Imam Muhammad bin Ali around 829 AD.
[30] Islam recognizes the value of sex and companionship and advocates marriage as the foundation for families and channeling the fulfillment of a base need.
[Quran 4:19] In cases where the agreement was to postpone payment of the mahr, some husbands will pressure their wives and insist on the return of what he gave her in order to agree to the dissolution of the marriage.
Unfortunately, most couples refuse to go to the judge and binding arbitration for these issues even though the Quran says:"If you anticipate a split between them, appoint a mediator from his family and another from hers.
Nikah is permitted by proxy (i.e. via the telephone or video link), simply by both parties (or representatives on their behalf) exchanging declarations.
International awareness, campaigns and organizations such as the U.K.'s Forced Marriage Unit have recognized the severity of this human rights issue and their rescue and support services extend beyond the borders of U.K. territories.
[54] Historically, the rules of divorce were governed by the Sharia, as interpreted by traditional Islamic jurisprudence, and they differed depending on the legal school.
It is not permissible for you to inherit women against their will or mistreat them to make them return some of the dowry ˹as a ransom for divorce˺—unless they are found guilty of adultery.
Distinction is however made with step relations i.e. where both the biological mother and father of a couple wishing to marry are separate individuals for both parties, in which case it is permitted.
The sister of the maternal grandfather and of the paternal grandmother (great aunts) are also included on an equal basis in the application of the directive.
A hadith (reports) confirm that fosterage does not happen by a chance suckling, it refers to the first two years of a child's life before it is weaned.
And Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.Interfaith marriages are recognized between Muslims and non-Muslim People of the Book (usually enumerated as Jews, Christians, and Sabians).
[71] The study also shares that "In some cases, the Islamic marriage contract is completed once the couple has decided to get married, but cohabitation occurs later after the wedding reception.
[71] Studies have also shown that even young Muslim Americans who might describe themselves as "not very religious" embrace the rituals of their faith at important moments of transition – birth, death, and marriage.
These occasions motivate reaffirmation of emotional and behavioral touchstones, even for those who do not practice their faith by attending mosque, praying or fasting regularly.
"[76] Within the United States and Canada, many Muslim couples interviewed in the study mention that they value a religious divorce and its proceedings.
ISPU reports that "the most frequent source of marital conflict in this study was conflict over changing gender roles and expectations,"[79] citing a nation-wide increase in women in higher education and professional jobs over the past three decades, and says that they "In many cases are trying to integrate childrearing and family life with professional goals".
[79] In March 2017, Salamet Memetimin, an ethnic Uyghur and the Communist Party secretary for Chaka township's Bekchan village in Qira County, Hotan Prefecture, Xinjiang, China, was relieved of her duties for taking her nikah marriage vows at her home.
[80] In interviews with Radio Free Asia in 2020, residents and officials of Shufu County (Kona Sheher), Kashgar Prefecture (Kashi) stated that it was no longer possible to perform traditional Uyghur nikah marriage rites in the country.
