Al-Sharḥ al-Mumtiʿ - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (12/94)

Al-Sharḥ al-MumtiʿIbn al-'Uthaymin

Section

The Fourth: Testimony, …

His statement, “The fourth is testimony,” means that the fourth condition for the validity of marriage is testimony—that is, that two witnesses must witness the marriage contract. The evidence for this is Allah’s saying:

“Then, when they have reached the end of their waiting period, either retain them according to what is acceptable or part with them according to what is acceptable. And call to witness two just men from among you.” [al-Talaq 65:2]

Allah, Exalted is He, has commanded that witnesses be present for a revocation of divorce, which is the restoration of a previous marriage. If witnesses are required for restoring a marriage, then requiring them for the initial marriage contract is even more fitting, because in the former case she is already his wife, whereas in the latter she is a woman unrelated to him in marriage. There is also the hadith: “There is no marriage except with a rightly guided guardian and two upright witnesses.” (1) However, this hadith is weak and cannot serve as proof.

Moreover, having witnesses publicizes the marriage, and this contract is especially serious. Indeed, the marriage contract is among the most consequential of contracts: it establishes unmarriageable kinship, inheritance, and lineage. For this reason, it has conditions not found in other contracts.

Some scholars said that witnesses are not a condition, because the marriage contract is like other contracts. It is a contract through which a person becomes permitted to enjoy intimacy with this wife, like a sale contract or a purchase contract for a female slave, through which he becomes permitted to take her as a concubine. They said: As for requiring witnesses for the revocation of divorce, this was commanded only so that no dispute may arise between husband and wife. For example, he may claim that he took her back, while she denies that he did. Consequently, we might rule that no revocation took place and permit her to marry another husband, whereas he had in fact taken her back; this would lead to harm. As for marriage from the outset, there is no dispute involved.

(1) Reported by al-Shafi'i in al-Umm, 7:222; and from him by al-Bayhaqi, 7:112, as a statement attributed to Ibn Abbas. See also al-Talkhis, no. 1512; Khulasat al-Badr al-Munir, no. 1948; and al-Irwa', no. 1844.

فَصْلٌ الرَّابِعُ: الشَّهَادَةُ، ............ قوله: «الرابع الشهادة»، يعني الرابع من شروط صحة النكاح الشهادة، أي: أن يشهد على عقد النكاح شاهدان، ودليل ذلك قوله تعالى: ﴿فَإِذَا بَلَغْنَ أَجَلَهُنَّ فَأَمْسِكُوهُنَّ بِمَعْرُوفٍ أَوْ فَارِقُوهُنَّ بِمَعْرُوفٍ وَأَشْهِدُوا ذَوَيْ عَدْلٍ مِنْكُمْ﴾ [الطلاق: ٢]. فأمر الله ـ تعالى ـ بالإشهاد على الرجعة، والرجعة إعادة نكاح سابق، فإذا كان مأموراً بالإشهاد على الرجعة، فالإشهاد على العقد ابتداءً من باب أولى؛ لأن المراجَعة زوجته، وهذه أجنبية منه، ولحديث: «لا نكاح إلا بولي مرشد وشاهدي عدل» (١)، لكن هذا الحديث ضعيف لا تقوم به الحجة، ولأن الإشهاد فيه إعلان للنكاح، ولخطورة هذا العقد؛ لأن من أخطر العقود عقد النكاح؛ يترتب عليه محرمية، وإرث، ونسب، ولذلك له شروط لا توجد في غيره. وقال بعض العلماء: إن الإشهاد ليس بشرط؛ لأن عقد النكاح كغيره من العقود، فهو عقد يستبيح به الإنسان الاستمتاع بهذه الزوجة، كعقد البيع، أو عقد الشراء على المملوكة الذي يستبيح به التسري، قالوا: وأما الإشهاد على الرجعة، فإنما أمر به لئلا يحصل نزاع بين الزوج والزوجة، فيدعي ـ مثلاً ـ أنه راجعها، وتنكر أن يكون راجعها، وبالتالي ربما نقضي بعدم الرجوع ونبيحها لزوج آخر، وهو قد راجع فيكون في هذا مفسدة، أما النكاح ابتداءً فليس فيه نزاع.

(١) أخرجه الشافعي في الأم (٧/ ٢٢٢)؛ وعنه البيهقي (٧/ ١١٢) موقوفاً على ابن عباس ﵄، وانظر: التلخيص (١٥١٢) وخلاصة البدر المنير (١٩٤٨) والإرواء (١٨٤٤).