What is your advice regarding one who marries with the intention of divorce?

The questioner : O esteemed Shaykh, may Allah reward you. One of the brothers submitted a question to your eminence in the one hundred and fifty-first meeting, in which he asked: Is it permissible to marry with the intention of divorce? Your answer was that it is not permissible because it involves deception of the wife and her family. However, it is possible to marry with a general intention, and if he returns to his country or finds that she is not suitable for him, the matter is broad in that regard. But we see that some people now make a trip from their country for tourism and go abroad, saying that he will marry with a general intention and stay there for two or three weeks. He marries, but it appears that this is the opposite, as evidenced by the fact that he did not prepare himself to receive his wife in his country, nor did he seek permission from the one in authority to marry this foreign woman, nor did he investigate her legal suitability, nor did he inform his family of his desire to marry there. So what is your guidance for such people, and do you have a detailed explanation of your answer? May Allah preserve you.

The Shaykh : Yes, may Allah bless you. I say: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned for us a just and fair scale: If this man’s going to the other country is solely to enjoy this marriage, then this is unlawful sexual intercourse, and there is no doubt in that, because he went to commit unlawful sexual intercourse and return. But if he truly wants to see what is in this universe of Allah’s (Mighty and Majestic) creations and the natures of people, especially if he is a man with taste in these matters, and then he marries there with the intention that it is a general marriage, then there is nothing wrong with it. And unfortunately, it has reached me that some people now, some young men who are not on a good and upright path, go to other countries to marry with the intention of divorce. And as I told you first: this is unlawful sexual intercourse, and there is no doubt in it. And we should not issue a general fatwa permitting a traveler or stranger to marry with the intention of divorce, even if we said it is permissible, in order to prevent this danger, which is that one travels in order to marry. The scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) who narrated the disagreement in this issue said: They assumed this for a stranger who traveled for other than this, for other than marriage, either for trade or seeking knowledge or the like. They said: If his bachelorhood becomes difficult for him, there is no harm in marrying with the intention of divorce. Clear, good, with the oath.