Fatwa ID: 05206

 

Answered by: Maulana Syed Johir Miah

 

Question

 

Is it wrong to go into a marriage with a prenup signed?

 

 

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

 

Answer:

 

It is not wrong to go on to a marriage with a prenuptial agreement.

 

Marriage consists of two people getting married to each other with the intention of spending their lives with each other till death.

 

However, they can both be different in their own ways prior to marriage, and might even have their own differences even after marriage, which is part of life. People go into marriage with a prenuptial agreement in order to be able to carry on with their differences with mutual respect and without any dispute after marriage.

 

Some of the points which are usually included nowadays are:

• Whether the husband and the wife will work after marriage
• Family planning
• Whether the wife will be a shareholder in all of the husbands possessions
• Continuation of study by any of the spouse
• Relocation
• Separate businesses

• Retirement benefits
• Income, deductions, and claims for filing your tax returns
• Arrangement regarding investing in certain purchases or projects, like a house or business
• Management of credit card spending and payments
• Savings contributions
• Arranging putting one or the other through school
• Settlement of potential disagreements, such as using mediation or arbitration
• Management of household bills and expenses
• Management of joint bank accounts, if any
• Property distribution to the survivor, including life insurance, in the event of death

 

The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم ) said,

أَحَقُّ مَا أَوْفَيْتُمْ مِنَ الشُّرُوطِ أَنْ تُوفُوا بِهِ مَا اسْتَحْلَلْتُمْ بِهِ الْفُرُوجَ ‏‏

“The stipulations most entitled to be abided by are those with which you are given the right to enjoy the (women’s) private parts (i.e. the stipulations of the marriage contract) [1].

 

Imam Khattabi) رحمه الله (has said:

The conditions in marriage are different, some of which must be fulfilled by agreement, and it is what Allah SWT has commanded to keep a good or lay off with kindness and some scholars have interpreted this Hadith within this type. And amongst the conditions in marriage, are those things which are not carried out and this (opinion) is by the unanimity of the scholars, such as asking of the divorce of another woman, and some of which differed as a requirement not to marry or not to take a mistress or concubine or not to transmit her from her house to his house [2]

 

It is mentioned in “Al-Mughni [3]”

 

The conditions for marriage have three categories:

 

The first: It is necessary to fulfill it, which is what is due to his deficiency, which is that he does not take her out of her home or her country, or he does not travel with her, or he does not marry while being married to her and not to take a mistress or concubine, so these conditions must be fulfilled, and if he does not fulfill her, then her marriage is annulled.

 

This is narrated from Umar, Sa’d bin Abi Waqqas, Muawiyah, and Amr Ibn Al-A’asرَضِيَ اللَّهُ تَعالى عَنْهُمْ

 

Imam Abu Hanifa)رحمه الله (and his companions said: However, the dowry would be complemented by a similar dowry if it decreased due to these conditions.

 

The second: What nullifies the conditions, but the marriage is valid, such as stipulating that she should not have a dowry, and that he should spend on her, and not have intercourse with her, or that he be separated from her, or that he does not be with her on Friday except for a day or night, or stipulated for her the day and not the night, or a condition she has to spend on him or cut off something from her money. All of these conditions are null, because they contradict the requirements of the contract, and the marriage is valid in all forms because it does not become invalidated due to unethical conditions.

 

And the third: What nullifies the marriage, fixing the duration of the marriage, the mut’ah marriage and the requirement of choice, and this is an agreement, or he says: I marry you if her sister agrees or marry such and such person requires the such a time, otherwise there is no marriage between us. [4]

 

 

Only Allah knows best

Written by Maulana Syed Johir Miah

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham

 

 

 

[1] Sunan Abu Dawud, 244/2, Al-Maktnatul Asriyyah, Beirut, Lebanon.

 

[2]  وقالَ الخَطّابِيُّ الشُّرُوطُ فِي النِّكاحِ مُخْتَلِفَةٌ فَمِنها ما يَجِبُ الوَفاءُ بِهِ اتِّفاقًا وهُوَ ما أمَرَ اللَّهُ بِهِ مِن إمْساكٍ بِمَعْرُوفأوْ تَسْرِيحٍ بِإحْسانٍ وعَلَيْهِ حَمَلَ بَعْضُهُمْ هَذا الحَدِيثَ ومِنها ما لا يُوفى بِهِ اتِّفاقًا كَسُؤالِ طَلاقِ أُخْتِها وسَيَأْتِي حُكْمُهُ فِي البابِ الَّذِي يَلِيهِ ومِنها ما اخْتُلِفَ فِيهِ كاشْتِراطِ أنْ لا يَتَزَوَّجَ عَلَيْها أوْ لا يَتَسَرّى أوْ لا يَنْقُلَها مِن مَنزِلِها إلىFathul Bari, 217/9, Darul Ma’rifah, Beirut, Lebanon

 

[3] Al-Mughni, Ibn Qudamah Al-Maqdisi, 93/7, Maktabah, Cairo, Egypt,1388 H.

 

[4]  وفي «المغني»: الشروطفيالنكاح أقسام ثلاثة:
الأول: يلزم الوفاء به، وهو ما يعود نقصه إليها وهو أن لا يخرجها من دارها أو بلدها أو لا يسافر بها أو لا يتزوج عليها ولا يتسرى عليها، فهذه الشروط يلزمه الوفاء بها، فإن لم يف فلها فسخ نكاحها، يروى ذلك عن عمر، وسعد بن أبي وقاص، ومعاوية وعمرو بن العاص – رَضِيَ اللَّهُ تَعالى عَنْهُمْ -.
وبه قال شريح، وعمر بن عبد العزيز، وجابر بن زيد، وطاوس، والأوزاعي، وإسحاق وأبطل هذه الشروط الزهري وقتادة، وهشام بن عروة، والليث والثوري؛ ومالك، والشافعي، وابن المنذر. وقال أبو حنيفة وأصحابه: لكن يكمل لها مهر المثل إن نقصت منه بسبب هذه الشروط.
والثاني: ما يبطل فيهالشروط ويصح النكاح، مثل أن يشترط أن لا يكون لها مهر، وأن ينفق عليها، ولا يطأها، أو أن يعزل عنها، أو لا يكون عندها في الجمعة إلا يومًا أو ليلة، أو شرط لها النهار دون الليل، أو شرط عليها أن تنفق عليه أو تقطعه شيئًا من مالها، فهذه الشروط كلها باطلة، لأنها تنافي مقتضى العقد، والنكاح صحيح في الصور كلها؛ لأنه لا يبطل بالشروط الفاسدة.
والثالث: ما يبطل به النكاح وهو التوقيت فيالنكاح، ونكاح المتعة واشتراط الخيار، وهذا اتفاق، أو يقول: زوجتك إن رضيت أختها أو فلانا أوجبت بالمهر في وقت كذا، وإلا فلا نكاح بيننا.