this man, ever. But if she names someone who is a suitable match, then we will gladly comply.

If she names a suitable match and refuses him, then another suitable match comes to her father and she refuses him, then a third comes and she refuses him—refusing every suitable match who comes—does he incur sin if he does not marry her off? No, for she is the one refusing. She should be told: “If you accept the suitable match whom the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, commanded us to accept in marriage—someone whose religion and character please us—then we will gladly comply. But if you name someone who is not a suitable match in his religion and character—and religion is the most important matter—then we will not accept your choice or marry you to him.”

“Not the non-virgin woman; for the father and his appointed guardian in marriage may marry them off without their permission, just as a master may marry off his slave women, ….”

His words, “Not the non-virgin woman,” mean that the non-virgin woman is not exempted; rather, her consent is required, even if her father is the one marrying her off. This is due to the Prophet’s statement, peace and blessings be upon him: “A woman who has previously been married is not to be married off until her instructions are sought.” (1) That is, her instruction must be sought.

The non-virgin woman is one whose virginity has been lost through intercourse in a valid marriage, through consensual fornication, or—even through rape, according to the school’s position. This is because a non-virgin woman who has experienced intercourse knows what intercourse means and can therefore accept or refuse. This is clear in the case of one who was married and had intercourse, and likewise in the case of one who committed fornication—may Allah protect us—with her consent, for she derives pleasure from intercourse and knows it. But regarding one who was raped, do we say that her ruling is the same as that of the non-virgin woman whose virginity was lost through intercourse in a valid marriage or through consensual fornication?

The answer is that this does not appear to be correct. The school’s position is that her ruling is the same as that of the first two, but the sound view is otherwise: even if a raped woman has lost her virginity, if she was coerced, her permission is indispensable, and no weight is to be attached