Married another man while she was in her waiting period

27-5-2007 | IslamWeb

Question:

Recently i knew about ur web.side and i made one queastion but i have not mentioned all true as was feeling too shame to say everything to any body.It is already for 3 years i do not know haw to correct my life as per Islamic shariga and have no one who could help me.3years ago i got positive advice from Islamic center regarding secret marriage and went to marry with some one from Siriya in sicret from people.Contract was done with 2 witnesess but in secret from public.Then when his 1st wive understand about me he went to the cort without me and got a divorse paper in one day.After one month i found that i was pregnant but during that one month after devorce i gave agreement to another man to marry him and we fixed our marriage day in my country.When i understand that i was pregnant I informed ex-husband about it immidietly thinking that if he would support me i would cancel my marriage with another one.But he was shauting at me a lot asking me to make abortion and not to bother him.So,i went to my country to marry another man(i did not know in that time that i should waight by Islam) as a day was fixed as well.But first ex-husband when he understood about it he called up to my relatives and mulla who had to make nikah for 2nd marriage and said to every body that i am his wive and he loves me and a baby which i was pregnant with. it was just 1 day before nikah.Mulla asked me if it was a true and i was soo shamed to say infront of everybody so i hided a true and mulla made a nikah with 2nd man.But after few days after reading books and talking to Islamic center i understood that it was wrong and i came back to UAE after more than 3 month as i had miscarriage and was staying in the hospital for 2 month continuesly.Please teach me haw to make tauba as i am afreid of God and haw to arrange my life as per Islam.Is my first marriage valid? If "no" is a second marriage valid? Can i remarry second or first as at the moment both wont to marry me.Can i marry some body else?

Answer:

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  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

 

There are some conditions for a marriage contract to be valid, the most important of which are the consent of the guardian and the presence of two witnesses. Therefore, if the first marriage took place with the consent of your guardian and the presence of two witnesses, then it is a correct marriage contract. Not making the marriage public does not affect the validity of the marriage contract. 

However, if the marriage took place without the presence or consent of your guardian, then the marriage contract is void according to the most preponderant opinion of the scholars  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  them.

An incorrectly conducted marriage contract must be invalidated unless a Muslim judge rules that such marriage is valid, in which case it is considered as valid.

Even if we consider that this marriage contract is void, this does not mean that the wife has the right to remarry with another man whenever she wishes, rather she is not permitted to do that until the marriage contract is invalidated or divorce takes place and her waiting period expires.

For more benefit on the conditions for the validity of the marriage contract, please refer to Fatwa 83629.

As regards the divorce paper which you mentioned, then writing the word divorce is one of the metaphors of divorce, and therefore divorce does not take place unless one intended it, or that writing the word divorce is accompanied by uttering it. If we assume that divorce took place, then it should be taken into account even if the marriage is void.

With regard to your husband saying to you that you are his wife after that, then if we assume that the first marriage contract was correct and that divorce took place, this statement means that he is taking you back if this divorce is revocable, because a husband may take back his wife if she is still in her waiting period, and the waiting period of a pregnant woman ends when she gives birth to the baby. For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 83672.

Concerning what you stated as the second marriage, it is an invalid marriage in any case, because it either took place while you are still married or that it took place while you were still in your waiting period. Marrying a woman who is still a wife of someone else is void, and marrying her while she is still in her waiting period is also void. You are obliged to repent to Allaah for not confessing before the court registrar that you are pregnant.

As regards abortion, if it was a miscarriage without any involvement from both of you, then you are not sinful; however, if one of you caused it, then whoever caused it is obliged to repent. If this abortion took place after the sperm-drop became a clinging clot which does not melt if hot water was poured onto it, then a Diyyah (i.e. blood money -which is one-tenth of the Diyyah of the mother [if the abortion took place 120 days after the egg is conceived]). For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 90279 and 85970.

To conclude, if the first marriage contract was correct according to the conditions which we mentioned for the validity of the marriage contract, then you are still a wife of the first husband and it is not permitted to anyone else to propose to get engaged to you, let alone to marry you. But if divorce took place and your waiting period expired, you are free to marry, so you should choose the best husband with regards to religion and good moral conduct. However if the marriage was incorrect due to the non-consent of the guardian and a Muslim judge or his deputy did not rule that it is correct, then you are obliged to ask for this marriage contract to be invalidated and it is not permissible for you to continue this marriage. However, since the marriage was not invalidated, it is not permissible for the second husband or anyone else to marry you.

Allaah Knows best.

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