Marriage & Family
Nikah, guardianship, and the rulings of divorce.
Divorce
- Who may pronounce a divorce, and what makes it valid The four conditions a divorce needs to be valid, the states that do not stop it taking effect, and how it can be given by writing or through a representative.
- Custody of children and maintenance after divorce Who has the right to care for young children after a divorce, and when a husband must keep providing his wife's food, clothing, and housing.
- Further rulings connected to marriage and divorce A missing husband, apostasy, words of disbelief, a new Muslim's existing marriage, a minor girl's engagement, and the limit on marrying more than one wife.
- Ila': the oath not to approach one's wife What ila' is, what happens if the husband keeps or breaks his oath, and the expiation due for breaking it.
- Khul': the wife's release in exchange for compensation How khul' works when a husband will not divorce and the marriage cannot continue, who may ask for it, and what it costs the wife.
- The kinds of divorce: ahsan, hasan, and bid'ah The prescribed (sunnah) methods of giving divorce - ahsan and hasan - set against the innovated (bid'ah) methods that go against them.
- Revocable and irrevocable divorce, and divorce before consummation The difference between a divorce the husband can take back and one he cannot, the two degrees of irrevocable divorce, and how many divorces count for a wife who was never consummated.
- Taking the wife back during her waiting period (ruju') How a husband may take his wife back after a revocable divorce, while her waiting period is still running, without a new marriage contract.
- The waiting period (iddah) after divorce or death Why a wife must wait before remarrying, and how long the wait is for a divorced, widowed, pregnant, or never-consummated wife.
- The words that effect a divorce: explicit and allusive The difference between words that always mean divorce and words that only sometimes do, and when intention or circumstance decides which divorce, if any, occurs.
- What divorce (talaq) is, and when it is allowed What talaq means, why Islam values the marriage bond and dislikes divorce, and the five rulings a divorce can carry depending on the circumstances.
- Zihar and li'an Zihar, where a husband compares his wife to a woman he could never marry, and li'an, the mutual oath procedure that follows an unproven accusation of adultery.
Nikah
- How a nikah is conducted The recommended order of a nikah gathering, the words actually spoken for offer and acceptance, and what follows the marriage.
- Guardianship in marriage Who counts as a wali, in what order they stand, and what a guardian can and cannot decide for someone else.
- Marriage of the insane and of minors Why an insane person or a child cannot contract their own marriage, and the right a minor gets back once grown.
- Suitability (kafa'ah) between husband and wife Kafa'ah is whether a husband matches his wife's family in six respects, and what her guardians may do if he does not.
- The marriage sermon (khutbat an-nikah) The sermon recommended before the offer and acceptance of nikah, given here in the two forms the source records.
- The mahr (dower) Mahr is the property a husband owes his wife because of the marriage contract, with a set minimum and no upper limit.
- The rules of offer and acceptance The wording, timing and setting that a proposal and its acceptance must satisfy for a nikah to be valid.
- The pillar and conditions of a valid nikah Nikah has one pillar, offer and acceptance, and six conditions that must all be met for it to be valid.
- Who you cannot marry: fosterage (breastfeeding) Breastfeeding within the first two years creates a family bond that prohibits marriage in the same way blood kinship does.
- Who you cannot marry: blood relations and in-laws The blood relations and in-laws a Muslim can never marry, and how an in-law relationship comes to be prohibited.
- Who you cannot marry: the other causes Beyond family and fosterage, marriage is also barred by combining certain women, by ownership, by religion, and by an existing marriage or waiting period.
- Spouses' rights, and marriages that do not hold What a marriage contract owes each spouse, and the situations elsewhere in this section where a nikah is invalid or left pending.
- What nikah is, and its ruling Nikah is the marriage contract of Islamic law, and whether a person should marry now depends on how strongly they need to.
- The witnesses to nikah A nikah needs two qualifying witnesses who hear the whole offer and acceptance together, or it is not valid.