A man whose father forced him to marry his cousin’s daughter, and he obeyed but harbored the intention to divorce her when the opportunity arose; does this fall under the issue of marrying with the intention of divorce?

The questioner : One of the young Salafi men asked about this in a tape... Umar al-Ashqar. Our brother Umar al-Ashqar’s question was that a man forced his son to marry his cousin’s daughter, or any woman, meaning this coercion was against his will. After his father passed away, he divorced her; and he had intended to divorce her after his father died, and he actually did. Does this fall under this category?

The Shaykh : No, it does not, because he was coerced.

The questioner : Yes, his marriage is valid.

The Shaykh : Yes, because if the intention is not declared, a person is not held accountable for it; but it is not from perfection. For example, if someone thinks for a long time that tonight he wants to commit a sin, do you see? And then he restrains himself from it, or turns away from it, or so on; this is from the ease of Islam, that it is excused for him. But is this good for him, or is it better that he guards his mind from thinking about such sins? Do you understand? This is taken from his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) in the authentic hadith in al-Bukhari and Muslim: . So as long as he did not speak about the matter, especially since he was coerced, he owes nothing.