She and her cousin are obliged by their parents to marry each other Fatwa No: 137040
- Fatwa Date:20-6-2010
asalamalikum my parents r forcing me to get married to my cousin.whom i dont like.and told them several time that i dont want to marry him.if i say no in my nikha they will kill me...i even told the guy to leave me coz i dont like him..his parents warn him that if he breaks the engagement they will be very rude to him..we both cant leave each other nor we like each other..if we do our nikha by force and after marrage we r going abroad then we will leave each other .so does he have to give me divorce though this nikha is by force..does this nikha will be accepted in sharya(islam).though we both r forced...and plz mention that i have heard that if ur husband from the first day of marrage doesnt touch u for 4months 10 days the nikha breaks..and plz tell me that am i going to answer Allah or will He punish me if i leave him.i have already told my parents that i dont like him..i m very confused plz help me what to do..thanks alot
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.
We have already issued Fatwa 107785 clarifying that it is not permissible for the guardian to oblige the woman under her guardianship to marry someone whom she does not like and if he does she has the right to ask for this marriage to be invalidated. However, we clarified in the above Fatwa that if she consents to the marriage contract in order to please her parents, then this is better. So, please refer to the above Fatwa.
Hence, if you consent to this marriage to be concluded, then you should do so as a way of being kind and dutiful to your parents, as Allaah may bless this marriage because of your dutifulness to your parents. But if you do not wish to continue this marriage, then you should try to convince your parents and you may seek the help of the people whom you think may influence them. If they are convinced, then praise be to Allaah, but if they insist on their view, then you may take your case to an Islamic court. The same thing applies to your cousin with his parents if they insist on him marrying you.
In principle, if the marriage is concluded while fulfilling the conditions of a valid marriage, like the consent (and presence) of the guardian and the presence of the two witnesses, then the marriage is valid. However, as we previously mentioned, the wife has the right to continue it or to invalidate it.
As regards what you heard that if a husband does not have sexual intercourse with his wife for a period of four months and 10 days the marriage becomes invalid, then this is not correct. But if you mean Eelaa’, then Eelaa’ is when a husband makes an oath not to have sexual intercourse with his wife for a period of four months or more, in this case, when the four months expire, the Muslim judge would order the husband either to have sexual intercourse with his wife or to divorce her.
On the other hand, if you allow your husband to consummate the marriage with you, then in this case, you have no right for asking to invalidate it [marriage]. Al-Hajaawi from the Hanbali School of jurisprudence said: “Her choice (A wife’s choice to invalidate her marriage contract) is cancelled if she shows any sign of consent (to her marriage) either by her words or her action.” In which case, you are not allowed to go out of the home of your husband without his permission otherwise you would be sinful.
To conclude, we confirm what we said at the beginning that it is better to complete this marriage because the parents seek the benefit of their daughter as they have a better insight than her in this matter.
Allaah Knows best.