It has been two years since her marriage contract was concluded. Is financial maintenance obligatory for him? Does she have the right to annul the contract? And is it permissible for him to marry a second wife without the first wife’s knowledge?
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Question:
She says at the beginning of her letter that she is a young woman who has had a marriage contract concluded with a married man who has children, but he has not married her yet. The period has been prolonged for about two years, and she has not seen him or sat with him. The question is: Does this contract get annulled, or does it remain as it is? Also, is it permissible for the man, if he marries a woman—even before consummating the marriage—to not provide her with any financial maintenance, even though he talks to her on the phone, because he is in one country and she is in another? And is it permissible for the man to marry another woman without informing his first wife of his marriage? Please inform us of this.
Answer:
If a marriage contract is concluded with a woman and he delays consummating the marriage without an excuse, she has the right to demand that he take her in and provide for her, and he should not delay in doing so. If she is content with the delay and does not demand it, then the husband owes nothing in that regard. However, if she demands it, then it is obligatory for him either to divorce her or to take his wife and provide for her, because this is what the contract entails. As for what she asked about, since the contract was concluded with her, does financial maintenance become obligatory for her merely by the contract? Yes, financial maintenance becomes obligatory for the husband when he takes possession of his wife. When he takes possession of his wife after the contract, it is obligatory for him to provide for her. But before he takes possession of her, she has no claim on him. So financial maintenance becomes obligatory by one of two things: either by taking possession of her, or by her making herself available for delivery and not refusing, but he did not wish to take possession of her. This does not negate her right, as mentioned before. Yes. And informing the first wife, she says.
As for whether the husband must inform his wife that he has married another woman? This is not obligatory and it is not required. But in the context of good conduct and mutual understanding, he should explain it to her, and he should do so with gentleness and softness so that no repulsion or shock occurs that would affect her. Yes. May Allah bless you.
She says at the beginning of her letter that she is a young woman who has had a marriage contract concluded with a married man who has children, but he has not married her yet. The period has been prolonged for about two years, and she has not seen him or sat with him. The question is: Does this contract get annulled, or does it remain as it is? Also, is it permissible for the man, if he marries a woman—even before consummating the marriage—to not provide her with any financial maintenance, even though he talks to her on the phone, because he is in one country and she is in another? And is it permissible for the man to marry another woman without informing his first wife of his marriage? Please inform us of this.
Answer:
If a marriage contract is concluded with a woman and he delays consummating the marriage without an excuse, she has the right to demand that he take her in and provide for her, and he should not delay in doing so. If she is content with the delay and does not demand it, then the husband owes nothing in that regard. However, if she demands it, then it is obligatory for him either to divorce her or to take his wife and provide for her, because this is what the contract entails. As for what she asked about, since the contract was concluded with her, does financial maintenance become obligatory for her merely by the contract? Yes, financial maintenance becomes obligatory for the husband when he takes possession of his wife. When he takes possession of his wife after the contract, it is obligatory for him to provide for her. But before he takes possession of her, she has no claim on him. So financial maintenance becomes obligatory by one of two things: either by taking possession of her, or by her making herself available for delivery and not refusing, but he did not wish to take possession of her. This does not negate her right, as mentioned before. Yes. And informing the first wife, she says.
As for whether the husband must inform his wife that he has married another woman? This is not obligatory and it is not required. But in the context of good conduct and mutual understanding, he should explain it to her, and he should do so with gentleness and softness so that no repulsion or shock occurs that would affect her. Yes. May Allah bless you.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، مضى على عقدها سنتين فهل يجب النفقة عليه وهل يحق لها الفسخ، وهل يجوز أن يتزوج الثانية دون علم الأولى؟ — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.