Marriage Contracts and Forced/Un-consented Marriages
The marriage contract is concluded between the guardian (wali) of the bride and bridegroom, not between bridegroom and bride. Guardian (wali) of the bride can only be a free Muslim. The wali of the bride is normally a male relative of the bride, preferable her father. If the bride is an virgin, which is supposed for the first marriage, the wali can force the bride into the marriage even against her proclaimed will, if the wali is the father or the paternal grandfather of the bride. Such a wali is called wali mujbir, which means wali with the right of coercion. Walis other than the father or the paternal grandfather of the bride need the consent of the bride. If the bride is a virgin, silent consent is sufficient. According to the Hanafi school of shari'a law every wali, who is a blood relative, can force an underage virgin in marriage without her consent. But such a forced marriage by an wali other than her father or the paternal grandfather can be demanded to be declared void (faskh) by the qadi, when the she is coming on age.
Read more about this topic: Marriage In Islam
Famous quotes containing the words marriage, contracts, forced and/or marriages:
“The concerts you enjoy together
Neighbors you annoy together
Children you destroy together
That make marriage a joy”
—Stephen Sondheim (b. 1930)
“If love closes, the self contracts and hardens: the mind having nothing else to occupy its attention and give it that change and renewal it requires, busies itself more and more with self-feeling, which takes on narrow and disgusting forms, like avarice, arrogance and fatuity.”
—Charles Horton Cooley (1864–1929)
“To be forced to refuse a gift merely because it was not offered in the right way embitters us toward the giver.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“The happiest two-job marriages I saw during my research were ones in which men and women shared the housework and parenting. What couples called good communication often meant that they were good at saying thanks to one another for small aspects of taking care of the family. Making it to the school play, helping a child read, cooking dinner in good spirit, remembering the grocery list,... these were silver and gold of the marital exchange.”
—Arlie Hochschild (20th century)