Marriage under Muslim Law

Marriage under Muslim law sometimes also known as the Nikah under which the boy and girl tried with the relationship to live together legally. After that they have the absolute right to Procreation of a child and that child would be a legitimate child. It is a Civil practice as well as a religious practice which is also considered as a sunnah of prophets under the Islamic law.

Under the Islamic law it is considered as a bad practice to be involved in a sexual relationship without marriage. That is known as zina. In order to prevent these relationships our elders decided to perform marriage as adults.

When two people get married the responsibility that obligations come into existence by implied or mutual agreement. The bride and groom come into obligation to take care of each other and provide necessary things to his wife and children. The wife getting Meher or dower under this marriage of Islam and it is one of the compulsory practices of Nikah.

It is kind of a contract and to validate this the parties have to comply with the formalities late down by the Muslim law. At the end, when Nikaah has been performed the both parties come into a marital status and become husband and wife.

Essential Conditions under Muslim Marriage

There are some conditions which have to be performed in order to complete the marriage. These conditions are given below:

Offer and Acceptance:-

As we all know that under the Muslim law marriage is like a contract which is constituted by Ijab-o-Qabul. It means a declaration or acceptance. One party of the marriage offers (make a proposal) and the other party must accept the offer in order to complete the Nikah. The word which makes a proposal and acceptance must be said in the presence of both the parties or in the presence of the agent. Under the Sunni law at the time of the marriage the presence of two males or one male and two females witnesses or compulsory which has to be adult, Muslims and not to be insane. Where under the Shia law the witnesses are not compulsory while performing the marriage.

Free Consent:-

The consent of both the parties should not be taken by any fraud, undue influence and fear (coercion). The both bride and groom contracted into a marriage with their free will and consent . The consent of the parties can be expressed or implied.

Competency of the Parties:-

To complete the above conditions it is mandatory to have competent parties to give their free consent without any fear or undue influence. The competency of the parties can be check by determining some of the factors which are given below:

(a) Age of marriage:-

Parties must be adults which have a capacity to enter into a contract. according to Section 3 of Indian majority act which defines the majority age as 18 years. In other words the parties must attend the age of puberty in order to enter into a contract of management. Additionally, the party must be aware of the nature and the consequences of the marriage.

(b) Puberty:-

Puberty is also the factor which has been checked before getting into marriage. It is important to get married after the age of puberty. It means the age of a boy or girl on which they became capable of bearing a child. In the absence of the evidence the age of favourite is presumed after the age of 15 years.

(c) Not be insane:-

It is important for both parties to have a sane person. If any of the party or insane then It is difficult to get free will and consent of that person. In this situation the guardian of that person will give the consent on the behalf of the party.

Dower:-

It is also known as Mehr in muslim law which is a sum of money paid by a husband to his wife as an act of respect towards her. It is compulsory to give mehr to validate the marriage.

Classification of Marriage

Mainly worldwide Muslims are divided into two sects based on their beliefs and customs, that is: Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims. Muslim weddings are categorized as social contracts since they are legally binding on both sides. There are kinds of Muslim marriages under Muslim law which categorizes as follows:

Sahih Nikah (Valid Marriage)

Fasid Nikah (Irregular Marriage)

Batil Nikah (Void Marriage)

Muta Marriage (Temporary Marriage)

Sahih Nikah (Valid Marriage)

A lawful marriage is one that is neither null and void. It is to be noted that a marriage is considered valid if it fulfills all legal conditions.

The following conditions must be met for a marriage to be considered lawful:

One party has made a proposal, and the other party must accept it.

The consent of the Parties must be free.

Under the Sunni Sect, the proposal and acceptance must have occurred in front of two male witnesses and if there is only one male available then two female witnesses required during a single meeting.

They must be of sound mind and be majors. Witnesses are not required under the Shia Sect.

The parties are capable to enter into contract marriage i.e., they should be:

Sound mind and Major

Parties must be able to give freely consent in order to engage into a contract marriage; if they are not, their guardians must do it on their behalf.

Whether it is temporary (i.e., prohibitive or directory) or permanent (i.e., based on consanguinity, affinity, fosterage, and polyandry), there should be no barriers to marriage.

Effect of a Valid Marriage

The following are some social and legal consequences of a legally recognized marriage under muslim law:

Inheritance rights are conferred upon husband and wife at marriage.

Following the Supreme Court's ruling in Mohd. Ahmad Khan v. Shah Bano Begum (1985). The court allow muslim wife to grant the right to maintenance and alimony for herself and the children under Section 125 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

After the marriage is dissolved or the divorced wife becomes a widow, she must undertake the Iddat ceremony. She is unable to get married again during the iddat period.

Fasid Nikah (Irregular Marriage)

It is irregular for two people who are suffering from relative prohibition to get married. Some factors that contribute to an irregular (fasid) marriage includes:

Sunni Muslim marriages done without witnesses,

Marriage with a fifth wife in Sunni,

marriage to a woman undergoing Iddat period,

marriage to a woman who is not believer of scriptures of islam (such as an idolatress or fire worshipper),

marriage in violation of the unlawful conjunction guidelines.

Effect of an Irregular Marriage

In the case that her husband divorces her before consummation, the wife does not have the right to demand a dower from him. There is no legal responsibility on the wife, she is not compelled to observe the Iddat period.

During the Iddat period, the woman is not entitled to maintenance from the husband. Marriage is consummated and a child born out of an irregular marriage is regarded as legitimate and he or she is entitled to full property inheritance rights.

Note: Shia law states that a marriage can only be either:

Valid (Sahih) or

Void (Batil)

Batil Nikah (Void Marriage)

A marriage that does not meet the requirements for becoming a valid marriage is considered void marriage in muslim law. No legal rights or obligations are upheld in a batil or void marriage. Marriages of the following kind are deemed null and void:

Marriage between two people who are related by blood, which is one of the forbidden degrees of relatives.

For reasons of affinity (e.g., sister, aunt, niece, etc.), marriage is forbidden.

Under Shia law, it is void to marry a woman who is undergoing Iddat.

Marriage to someone else's wife, as long as her marriage is still going.

Marriage to a foster sister or mother. Sunnis agree to the exemption in foster cases, which states that marriages with a sister's foster mother, foster sister's mother, foster son's sister, or foster brother's sister are acceptable.

The above list is not complete, few other kinds of marriages can be null and void by the different schools of muslim law in different scenarios.

Effect of a Void Marriage

Before or after consummation, a void marriage has no legal significance:

It does not provide the parties any legal rights or responsibilities.

Maintenance will not be given to the wife.

Although one cannot inherit from the other, if the void marriage has been consummated, the woman is entitled to dower.

A void marriage produces illegitimate children.

Without getting a divorce, the parties are free to split up at any moment and legally get married again.

Muta Marriage (Temporary Marriage)

The literal meaning of the word "muta" is "enjoyment or use." Also referred to as a temporary marriage, it is a marriage for pleasure for a predetermined time-period.

Neither the Shia School of Muslim law nor Ithna Ashari recognize the practice of muta marriage. The Fundamentals of Muta Marriage are discussed below.

There are Four elements are necessary to establish a muta marriage:

It needs to take the shape of an official contract, which entails an offer and an acceptance.

A man may enter into a muta marriage with a lady who practices Christianity, Judaism, or Mohammedanism, or even with a fire-worshipper.

However, a Shia lady cannot get a muta from a non-Muslim.

In such a marriage, relations that are forbidden by affinity are likewise illegal.

The word specifies that the duration of cohabitation should be set, which could be one day, one month, one year, or a number of years. It also requires that the dower must be fixed or set.

Marriage while Iddat Period

Under the Muslim Law in that period is the time of 3 months or three menstrual cycles of women after the ending of the marriage. Termination of marriage can be done by divorce or death of the party. So when the husband dies the widow comes under the obligation to perform the iddat period.

The exception is that if the marriage was not consummated there is no need to follow the iddat period. Under the sunni law the marriage is considered as irregular during the iddat period whereas in shia law the marriage becomes void under this period.