A marriage took place between one of my relatives and another person
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The questioner : The second question says: A marriage took place between one of my relatives and another person, but there is doubt about its validity. It happened that this man agreed with another man that he would marry his daughter, while he would marry his sister to that man's son. Each of them stipulated that the other would pay what is required for the girl in terms of clothing and jewelry, as he determines. Is such a marriage valid, or does it fall under the forbidden shighar? If so, what must they do now? And if it is not of the type of shighar, what is shighar then?
The Shaykh : This scenario you mentioned is undoubtedly a form of shighar.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Because in it, or rather, no mahr was offered in it except the woman's clothing and jewelry. This is not a customary mahr in our time. The mahr in our time does not consist solely of jewelry and clothing for the woman, but includes money as well. Therefore, each of them married the other with a mahr less than the mahr of the like. This is shighar without doubt, because the mahr became composed of two things: money and the woman's person. It is as if each woman's mahr became the money that was given to her and the other woman's person. This is forbidden and not permissible. For this reason, Allah the Mighty and Majestic said in the Qur'an:[An-Nisa 4:24] So Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, made the mahr money only. [An-Nisa 4:24] And between these two men, the mahr was money and the women's persons. Therefore, it is haram and falls under shighar.
However, if each of them offered the woman a mahr equal to her like, and each of them was a suitable match for the one he married, and each of them was satisfied with it, then some scholars have permitted this and said that it does not fall under shighar. And some scholars have held that it is shighar. There is no doubt that prohibiting it is more appropriate, because in our time, people's trustworthiness has decreased, and one of them does not care about the interest of his ward, but only about his own interest. Therefore, it should be prohibited absolutely, in order to block the means to harm and to prevent corruption. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
This listener is Nasser Salman Ibrahim from the Democratic Republic of Sudan.
The Shaykh : This scenario you mentioned is undoubtedly a form of shighar.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Because in it, or rather, no mahr was offered in it except the woman's clothing and jewelry. This is not a customary mahr in our time. The mahr in our time does not consist solely of jewelry and clothing for the woman, but includes money as well. Therefore, each of them married the other with a mahr less than the mahr of the like. This is shighar without doubt, because the mahr became composed of two things: money and the woman's person. It is as if each woman's mahr became the money that was given to her and the other woman's person. This is forbidden and not permissible. For this reason, Allah the Mighty and Majestic said in the Qur'an:
And lawful to you are [all others] beyond these, [provided] that you seek them [in marriage] with [gifts from] your property
وأحل لكم ما وراء ذلكم أن تبتغوا بأموالكمthat you seek them [in marriage] with [gifts from] your property
أن تبتغوا بأموالكمHowever, if each of them offered the woman a mahr equal to her like, and each of them was a suitable match for the one he married, and each of them was satisfied with it, then some scholars have permitted this and said that it does not fall under shighar. And some scholars have held that it is shighar. There is no doubt that prohibiting it is more appropriate, because in our time, people's trustworthiness has decreased, and one of them does not care about the interest of his ward, but only about his own interest. Therefore, it should be prohibited absolutely, in order to block the means to harm and to prevent corruption. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
This listener is Nasser Salman Ibrahim from the Democratic Republic of Sudan.