Are conditions valid before the marriage contract, and is it obligatory to fulfill them?

The questioner : Is it absolute, or is it restricted to the stability of circumstances? All the conditions we exemplified, such as stipulating that he not marry another woman. For example, if he agreed to a suitor’s request, but then she fell ill or was unable to serve him, is the condition dropped, or is it absolutely binding?

The Shaykh : It is absolutely binding. That is why we say: you are the one who was negligent. Because some people, nowadays, when they propose to people, they see that things have become difficult for them, so they yield to every condition, they yield to every condition. Then, when they marry and enter the home, they delay.
And they make claims. For example, a man whose wife stipulated that she would live with her parents, and he said he would not object, because the man was exhausted and tired of everything he wanted. But she stipulated that she would live with her parents, and he said yes, and the contract was concluded. Later, he said he was not patient to remain in the wife’s family home, so he started making claims. Sometimes he says, “When I come, they hit me,” and sometimes he says, “They talk about me and scold me, saying this and that.” He may be truthful, or he may not be truthful, just so that he can get rid of living with her family. So I mean, some people yield to all the conditions at the beginning of the proposal, then they regret it, and then they come and say, “I did this and I did that, and you…” So if, for example, one of these people says, “You are the one who bound yourself,”

The questioner : poor thing.

The Shaykh : What if she stipulated that he quit smoking?

The questioner : Hmm?

The Shaykh : Is this valid? It is valid.

The questioner : Oh, my duty is not a condition.

The Shaykh : But reality does not make it obligatory without a condition. However, if you stipulated this, if you stipulated it, the condition is valid, because there is a benefit in it, a benefit for her and for him. As for him, it is clear. And as for her, it is because if this husband continues to smoke, she will be affected, meaning he will always be smoking in her presence, and he will also harm her with the smell and other things. Now, if he refrains, he has fulfilled the condition. And if he returns to it, she has the right to annul the marriage. Yes, that is right. There is no obstacle. It is not as if they did not agree on it beforehand, as we said. If they agreed on the conditions beforehand, it is like a condition in the contract. Yes.