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.
This page collects a few extra situations connected to marriage and divorce: a husband who has gone missing for a very long time, what happens to a marriage if someone leaves Islam, and the rule that a man may marry up to four wives only if he can treat each of them fairly.
If a woman's husband is missing, with no news of whether he is alive or dead, she should wait until he would have reached the age of 90, or until her own peers have passed away; the judge can then rule for separation, after which she may remarry once her waiting period is complete. Imam Malik's view is that if four years have passed since the husband disappeared, the judge should rule for separation, and the woman may remarry after her waiting period. In modern times, a Hanafi judge may, in case of necessity or emergency, rule in line with the Maliki position.
If a person becomes an apostate, their marriage is annulled.
If either spouse utters words of disbelief, they must repent and renew their faith, and the marriage contract must be renewed - even if the husband remarries his wife for a lesser dowry.
A marriage contract or engagement between a young girl and a suitor is not valid unless it is explicitly confirmed according to Islamic guidelines.
A Muslim man may marry up to four wives. If he fears he cannot treat them equally - in food, clothing, and general interaction - he should marry only one.
Where a woman's husband is mafqūd (missing, with no news of his life or death), she should wait until he would have reached ninety years of age, or until her contemporaries (those of similar age) have died; the qāḍī may then rule for separation, after which she may remarry once her ʿiddah is complete. Imam Mālik's position is that the qāḍī should rule for separation once four years have passed since the disappearance, with remarriage following completion of the ʿiddah. In the present era, a Ḥanafī qāḍī may, in a case of genuine necessity, rule in accordance with the Mālikī position.
Riddah (apostasy) by either spouse annuls the nikāḥ.
Where either spouse utters words of kufr, repentance and renewal of faith are required, and the marriage contract must itself be renewed - even where the husband recontracts with the same wife for a lesser mahr.
A marriage contract or engagement (mangni) between a young girl and a suitor has no legal standing unless expressly confirmed in accordance with Sharʿī requirements.
A Muslim man may contract nikāḥ with up to four wives concurrently. Where he fears he cannot maintain equal treatment - in food, clothing, and general dealing - he should confine himself to one.
Related
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.