Is the fatwa attributed to Ibn Baz and to you regarding the permissibility of marrying with the intention of divorce authentic?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : May Allah reward you, O honorable Shaykh: We heard a fatwa attributed to Shaykh 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn Baz (may Allah preserve him), and that you have also issued a ruling to that effect, stating that it is permissible for a man to marry with the intention of divorce. What is the authenticity of this fatwa?
The Shaykh : Yes, Shaykh 'Abd al-'Aziz and the Permanent Committee mentioned that it is permissible for a stranger, it is permissible for a stranger to marry with the intention of divorce in order to prevent what is feared of falling into fornication. They distinguished this from the marriage of pleasure (mut'ah), because the marriage of pleasure is delayed for a specified term; when the term ends, the marriage is dissolved. It is forbidden, I mean the marriage of pleasure. There is disagreement among the scholars regarding this issue. Some said this saying and stated that there is no harm in a stranger marrying with the intention of divorce, meaning he marries as a husband to this woman as long as he is in this country, and his intention is that if he travels, he will divorce her.
Some scholars said that it is not permissible, and this is the well-known position in the madhhab of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him). It is known in the books of his later followers that it is not permissible for a stranger to marry with the intention of divorce. They said: Because this is an intention of pleasure, because if you asked this stranger why he married, do you want your wife to be a place of rest for you? Do you want children to be born to you from her? He would say: I do not want this or that, I want to enjoy her as long as I am in this country, and to protect myself from what I fear of falling into fornication. So we say: Then you did not intend the legal purpose of marriage in this marriage, because the legal purpose of marriage is for the woman to be a place of rest for the husband, as Allah the Exalted said:[Ar-Rum 30:21] Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Sahih al-Bukhari 1.
Then this opinion may be exploited by those weak in faith for bad purposes, as we have heard that some people started going during the break, meaning the vacation from lessons, to other countries to marry only with the intention of divorce. It was related to me that some of them marry several times in this vacation only, so it is as if they went to satisfy their desire, which is similar to zina, and may Allah protect us from that.
And for this reason, we see that even if permissibility is stated, it should not be opened up, because it has become a means to what I mentioned to you.
As for my opinion in that, I say: The marriage contract is valid in itself, because every person marries and in his intention, if he desires, he stays with the woman, and if he does not desire, he leaves her.
The Shaykh : Yes, Shaykh 'Abd al-'Aziz and the Permanent Committee mentioned that it is permissible for a stranger, it is permissible for a stranger to marry with the intention of divorce in order to prevent what is feared of falling into fornication. They distinguished this from the marriage of pleasure (mut'ah), because the marriage of pleasure is delayed for a specified term; when the term ends, the marriage is dissolved. It is forbidden, I mean the marriage of pleasure. There is disagreement among the scholars regarding this issue. Some said this saying and stated that there is no harm in a stranger marrying with the intention of divorce, meaning he marries as a husband to this woman as long as he is in this country, and his intention is that if he travels, he will divorce her.
Some scholars said that it is not permissible, and this is the well-known position in the madhhab of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him). It is known in the books of his later followers that it is not permissible for a stranger to marry with the intention of divorce. They said: Because this is an intention of pleasure, because if you asked this stranger why he married, do you want your wife to be a place of rest for you? Do you want children to be born to you from her? He would say: I do not want this or that, I want to enjoy her as long as I am in this country, and to protect myself from what I fear of falling into fornication. So we say: Then you did not intend the legal purpose of marriage in this marriage, because the legal purpose of marriage is for the woman to be a place of rest for the husband, as Allah the Exalted said:
And of His signs is that He created for you from yourselves mates that you may find tranquillity in them
وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ أَنْ خَلَقَ لَكُمْ مِنْ أَنْفُسِكُمْ أَزْوَاجاً لِتَسْكُنُوا إِلَيْهَاThe reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended.
إنما الأعمال بالنيات، وإنما لكل امرئ ما نوىThen this opinion may be exploited by those weak in faith for bad purposes, as we have heard that some people started going during the break, meaning the vacation from lessons, to other countries to marry only with the intention of divorce. It was related to me that some of them marry several times in this vacation only, so it is as if they went to satisfy their desire, which is similar to zina, and may Allah protect us from that.
And for this reason, we see that even if permissibility is stated, it should not be opened up, because it has become a means to what I mentioned to you.
As for my opinion in that, I say: The marriage contract is valid in itself, because every person marries and in his intention, if he desires, he stays with the woman, and if he does not desire, he leaves her.