The brother-in-law of the daughter stipulated that he not enter with the daughter until after six months in the court; what is the ruling on that?

The Shaykh : What do you have?
Al-Halabi : Our Shaykh, regarding the matter our brother wants to clarify, which is a real issue, one of our brothers even told us that this is currently happening in the courts...

The Shaykh : I know, my brother, but we give the Islamic ruling. We know that there are fathers who stipulate that their son-in-law not enter with their daughter until after six months.
Al-Halabi : That is correct, our Shaykh, but what I want to say is a bit different.

The Shaykh: Go ahead.

The questioner : For example, there is a man who, say, on Monday, they had set the date, and of course they had contracted the marriage, and they had set the consummation for the night of the wedding, three days later on Thursday. So he said to her, "Let's wait," and he asked permission from his uncle and his mother-in-law, saying, "Let's go look at the house and buy the bedroom and such." He took his wife and went. He said to her, "We are getting married the day after tomorrow, so let's wait for now." In fact, he came to her, and he died the next day. She became pregnant two or three months later, and the pregnancy showed. This is our son who did not enter with her. Look at what your daughter is doing. No, this is our son, not our son. And to this day, there are cases like this in the courts. So now, our Shaykh, regarding the custom in such a situation; does it not have a ruling?

The Shaykh : This is part of the coercion of fathers over sons-in-law. Since this situation occurred, every situation has its own handling.
Al-Halabi : So what about this situation?

The Shaykh : I mean, this has no relation to that situation. This is an incident that occurred, an incident of a certain type that is handled, but it has absolutely no relation to that case. I mean, it does not imply that if the uncle stipulated that the son-in-law not enter with his wife until after six months or a year, and he went and did not control himself and had intercourse with his lawful wife, what is wrong with that? This coercion is a custom that is currently prevailing, and this custom is not the result of religion, nor of caution, nor of prudence, nor of anything else, but rather we want to do this, we want to do this, formalities for which Allah has not sent down any authority. So, the fact that such an incident occurred and lawsuits were built upon it does not change the Islamic ruling. As soon as the contract is written legally, let alone with witnesses and the consent of the guardian, that is enough for him to take his wife and go wherever he wishes, in terms of what is lawful.
Al-Halabi : In terms of what is lawful, that is so. I mean, even this man who died and his wife, the child is their son, and he is her lawful husband and she is his lawful wife. But now, in terms of the reality they are living, I mean, he and she are now accused of zina, and her people accuse her of such and such, and his people accuse him, I mean, there are things...

The Shaykh : My brother, do you realize? She is accused of zina, and her husband is her lawful husband and her lawful spouse, and yet she is accused of zina?!
Al-Halabi : He died before the night of the wedding in their case.

The Shaykh : It does not matter that he died, but they know that he is her husband.
Al-Halabi : He is her husband in the contract, but in terms of the fact that the consummation did not take place.

The Shaykh : What does the contract mean?
Al-Halabi : The contract makes her lawful in the Shari'ah, but for example, the current custom among people is that the consummation takes place on a known day, and we agreed that the consummation takes place on this day, and he died before the consummation.

The Shaykh : This custom has no value.

The questioner : The issue of announcing the marriage so that people know that she has become his wife.

The Shaykh : Announcing the marriage is a condition of the marriage.

The questioner : I am asking about this.

The Shaykh : A man contracted from here and went with her, and no one has authority over her. On the contrary, some scholars say: A man and a woman were seen secluding themselves and satisfying their desires, and they were arrested. What is this? Each of them claimed, "This is my wife." There are two opinions among the scholars: One is that they are believed, even if there is no contract, no witnesses, and nothing else, "This is my wife." A second opinion says, no, verification is necessary; we must see if the claim is true or not. The point is that even if there were no witnesses, no contract, and nothing else, as soon as each of the spouses or the involved parties claims, "This is my wife" and "This is my husband," they are believed in that. So what can be said when there is a Shari'ah contract? Of course, we do not support the other view that they are believed merely because they claim it; verification is necessary. But I say, according to the second opinion, in the interest of covering for people and for Muslims, they are believed, as long as we do not have anything to negate this matter.

The questioner : Our Shaykh, regarding the custom of intention, it has become their intention that they want to annul the contract.

The Shaykh : It does not matter, this is a different discussion, and it has no relation to the issue of entering with her before the agreed or customary time. As if, for example, they had set the entry and consummation after six months, and in fact, he entered with her after six months, and it became clear to this girl that this man is an open sinner and not her equal. This happens to this day. As long as I am asked about a woman whose husband does not pray, whose husband gets drunk... and so on, I can tell her directly that she must leave him immediately; it is not permissible for her to live under his protection. But I know that problems may arise from that. "Since when have you been married to him?" She says, "Since ten years." "Glory be to Allah! Do you have children?" She says, "Yes, we have children." Now, I am explaining to her the Islamic ruling. I tell her, "It is not permissible for you to remain with this husband for even an hour." But I do not know how you want to solve the problem of the children. Here, there are no children. He entered with her, she lived with him, a week or two, she did not like it, and at that point, she requests separation. And separation, in the worst case, is that she pays back what she received. This is called khul', meaning, so that he releases her from him. If there is a Shari'ah court, she files a lawsuit against him that this man is not her equal, an open sinner, a wicked person... and so on. The judge separates them despite the husband's objection, without the wife losing any money. What is the name of this? Qays, or what, from the Companions whose wife came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in the morning to complain. He looked at her. "So-and-so?" No, "I and my husband so-and-so," she said like that. "Good?" "I do not complain of him for lack of religion or bad character, but I do not want him." "Well, will you return his garden to him?" "I will return his garden to him." He called the husband and said (peace and blessings be upon him) to him: "So-and-so says such and such. What is your opinion? Will you return your garden to her?" He said, "I am satisfied, O Messenger of Allah." And a separation occurred between them. Why? Because he is not a criminal, but she does not want him. So, the mahr that she received, she returns it to him. But in such a situation, when there is a Shari'ah court, first: if he were not married, the Shari'ah court would order him to pray, or else his head would be severed from his body. And a fortiori, this wife is filing a lawsuit against him that this is my husband and the father of my children... and so on, and he does not pray. So, either he prays, and that is the highest and noblest purpose regarding the wife's complaint against him, or he does not respond to this lawsuit, as is the reality today—regrettably—regarding the judiciary that does not rule by the Shari'ah. At the very least, it should separate them. So, this situation has no relation to the first situation, I mean, that he entered with her before the agreed time had come.

The questioner : Sometimes the fathers feel that it is like a joke that the virginity of the daughter is lost, so it is difficult for the daughter to get married if she is a widow, but if she is a virgin, it is easier.

The Shaykh : It does not matter, we said, do you not know your brother's son?! And even if he were not your brother's son, one of these young men does not open his eyes before marrying the daughter or the sister.