does not make marriage permissible. Thus, if a man contracts marriage with a woman after the first release from ihram, the contract is unlawful and the marriage is invalid, because she has not yet fully come out of ihram. Both the first and second releases are therefore necessary.

If someone were to ask: “Is a man still in ihram after the first release?” We would say: No. But the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Once you have stoned [the pillar] and shaved your heads, everything becomes lawful to you except women.” (1) We therefore say: He is no longer in ihram, but women are excepted; and the marriage contract is among the means by which women become lawful. Hence, it is forbidden after the first release and is invalid.

It has also been said that a marriage contract concluded after the first release is valid and not unlawful, because what is forbidden is women, whereas this is merely a contract. This is one of the two narrations from Ahmad, and the preferred view of Shaykh al-Islam, may Allah have mercy on him. It is the sounder view: marriage is not forbidden after the first release. Nevertheless, we tell a person: Take precautions for yourself; this matter is not insignificant. For he may proceed with the marriage after the first release, and then Satan may whisper to him, saying, “Your wife is unlawful to you,” thereby casting doubts upon him. So we say to him: Wait until you have fully come out of ihram, for even if you contract the marriage now, you will not consummate it with her, since women are forbidden to you.

Issue: If a woman enters ihram for umrah and menstruates before performing tawaf, but is too embarrassed to tell her family that she is menstruating, so she performs tawaf and sa'i, returns to her family, and then a marriage contract is concluded for her, the contract is invalid. This is because she remains in ihram: her tawaf is invalid, and her sa'i is invalid,