The ruling on a woman who refuses to marry anyone other than her paternal cousins
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
I have a sister who is twenty years old and has not married. Every time a man proposes to her, she refuses to marry him and says, “I will not take anyone but my paternal cousins.” Please note that most of her paternal cousins do not pray. We ask you to guide us to a way out of this dilemma.
Answer:
It is her need. If she does not want to marry when proposed to, and refuses anyone but her paternal cousins, she should be advised. It should be said to her: It is not a condition that it be your paternal cousins first. They may not desire you; they may prefer another woman who is more beautiful than you, or for other reasons. Your paternal cousins may not be good people, because they do not pray; they are open sinners who do not pray, so there is no reason to wait for them. Even if Allah may guide them and they repent, there is no reason to wait for them, because the woman is at risk and the young man is at risk. It is necessary to hasten the marriage and not wait when a suitable husband comes.
The woman’s guardians should advise her and direct her to what is good, until she accepts a good suitor, even if he is not one of her paternal cousins. This is the obligatory duty. The guardians must not hold her back for the sake of her paternal cousins. Some guardians say, “No, absolutely not, unless it is her paternal cousin, otherwise she stays with us,” and they compel her and force her to marry a paternal cousin. They may not be righteous, and they may have other defects besides righteousness that the woman does not approve of.
It is not permissible for her father to force her to marry her paternal cousins, and it is not permissible for her paternal cousins to force her either, threaten her, and say, “If you marry [someone else], we will do this and that.” All of this is not permissible; it is all from the matters of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. It is not permissible for her father to force her, nor for her paternal cousins to force her. They have no right to threaten to kill or beat whoever marries her, or do the like of that. All of this is from the matters of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. Therefore, the authorities, if they learn of this, should impose a discretionary punishment on whoever does this and discipline them for it, in order to deter injustice and cut off the source of corruption.
I have a sister who is twenty years old and has not married. Every time a man proposes to her, she refuses to marry him and says, “I will not take anyone but my paternal cousins.” Please note that most of her paternal cousins do not pray. We ask you to guide us to a way out of this dilemma.
Answer:
It is her need. If she does not want to marry when proposed to, and refuses anyone but her paternal cousins, she should be advised. It should be said to her: It is not a condition that it be your paternal cousins first. They may not desire you; they may prefer another woman who is more beautiful than you, or for other reasons. Your paternal cousins may not be good people, because they do not pray; they are open sinners who do not pray, so there is no reason to wait for them. Even if Allah may guide them and they repent, there is no reason to wait for them, because the woman is at risk and the young man is at risk. It is necessary to hasten the marriage and not wait when a suitable husband comes.
The woman’s guardians should advise her and direct her to what is good, until she accepts a good suitor, even if he is not one of her paternal cousins. This is the obligatory duty. The guardians must not hold her back for the sake of her paternal cousins. Some guardians say, “No, absolutely not, unless it is her paternal cousin, otherwise she stays with us,” and they compel her and force her to marry a paternal cousin. They may not be righteous, and they may have other defects besides righteousness that the woman does not approve of.
It is not permissible for her father to force her to marry her paternal cousins, and it is not permissible for her paternal cousins to force her either, threaten her, and say, “If you marry [someone else], we will do this and that.” All of this is not permissible; it is all from the matters of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. It is not permissible for her father to force her, nor for her paternal cousins to force her. They have no right to threaten to kill or beat whoever marries her, or do the like of that. All of this is from the matters of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. Therefore, the authorities, if they learn of this, should impose a discretionary punishment on whoever does this and discipline them for it, in order to deter injustice and cut off the source of corruption.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.