Prohibition of Marriage by Exchange
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Question: From Abdulaziz ibn Abdullah ibn Baz to the honorable brother S. A. Y., may Allah guide him to all good, amen.
Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings. After that:
Your noble letter, dated 18/6/1393 AH, has reached you, may Allah guide you. The question it contained was known, and this is its text and answer: Two full brothers, each having a son and a daughter, one of the brothers asked his brother to marry his son to his daughter. He initially refused and said to him: I will not marry my daughter to your son unless you marry your son to my daughter. They agreed and were satisfied with that, so one of them paid a sum of money in exchange for the marriage of his son, and the brother to whom the money was paid returned that sum in exchange for the marriage of his son as well. Each of them contracted the marriage of his daughter to his brother's son in one session. It happened that one of the two sons was absent and the other was present, so the present one got married, and the marriage of the absent one was postponed until he arrived. We ask your eminence to reply quickly and give the ruling of the noble Shari'ah in this case, so that we may address the matter before the absent one travels and marries his cousin. End of text.
Answer: The contract concluded in this marriage is not valid; because it is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) the prohibition of shighar, and the marriage mentioned is precisely shighar. Therefore, it is obligatory to separate the mentioned parties. If a woman has a desire for her husband, there is no harm in renewing the contract with her, without the condition of marrying the second person to the second woman. And if she has no desire, it is obligatory for her husband to divorce her with one divorce, to cut off the material for attachment to her. We have written a treatise on this issue to you, with a copy enclosed. May Allah guide everyone to understanding in His religion and steadfastness upon it, He is the best of those asked.
And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings. After that:
Your noble letter, dated 18/6/1393 AH, has reached you, may Allah guide you. The question it contained was known, and this is its text and answer: Two full brothers, each having a son and a daughter, one of the brothers asked his brother to marry his son to his daughter. He initially refused and said to him: I will not marry my daughter to your son unless you marry your son to my daughter. They agreed and were satisfied with that, so one of them paid a sum of money in exchange for the marriage of his son, and the brother to whom the money was paid returned that sum in exchange for the marriage of his son as well. Each of them contracted the marriage of his daughter to his brother's son in one session. It happened that one of the two sons was absent and the other was present, so the present one got married, and the marriage of the absent one was postponed until he arrived. We ask your eminence to reply quickly and give the ruling of the noble Shari'ah in this case, so that we may address the matter before the absent one travels and marries his cousin. End of text.
Answer: The contract concluded in this marriage is not valid; because it is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) the prohibition of shighar, and the marriage mentioned is precisely shighar. Therefore, it is obligatory to separate the mentioned parties. If a woman has a desire for her husband, there is no harm in renewing the contract with her, without the condition of marrying the second person to the second woman. And if she has no desire, it is obligatory for her husband to divorce her with one divorce, to cut off the material for attachment to her. We have written a treatise on this issue to you, with a copy enclosed. May Allah guide everyone to understanding in His religion and steadfastness upon it, He is the best of those asked.
And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.